Coraline And Jeff
by PennyMew8090
Summary: The Woods family moves into Wybie's old house, and their sons, Jeff and Liu, become friends with Coraline Jones. When Jeff goes insane, he runs away. When they meet again four years later, what happens? Will they feel the same way they did four years ago? Will Jeff kill Coraline? Or will something in his heart that he hasn't felt in a long time stop him? (Possibly JeffXCoraline :3)
1. Moving Day

Chapter 1: Moving Day.

~Coraline's POV~

I stood with Wybie in his front yard, watching men load boxes into a moving van. I couldn't believe this was happening. Wybie was... Moving. Leaving. Probably for good. Recently his gramma had passed away, and now he was going to go live with his aunt and uncle. But it wasn't fair. Why did he have to move? Why couldn't his aunt and uncle come here? But I wasn't only feeling bad for me, I was feeling bad for Wybie. First his parents and now his gramma. After a few minutes of standing there awkwardly, I put a hand on Wybie's shoulder sympathetically. He jumped a little, startled.  
"I'm gonna miss you, Wybie." I said.  
"I'm gonna miss you too, Coraline." Wybie said, sounding a bit nervous. But it was hard for me to tell whether he was nervous, or if that was just how he talked. Wybie's aunt walked over to us.  
"Ooo~ is this your GIRLFRIEND, Wybie?" his aunt asked in a teasing tone. I clenched my teeth. I couldn't stand this lady.  
"Aunt Hazel, cut it out!" Wybie said. All of the blood in my body decided to rush up to my face, and I'm sure I probably looked like a tomato, my face was so red. Hazel chuckled and walked off. His aunt and uncle were the snobby type that I hated. I wondered if Wybie hated them, too. But I figured it wouldn't be the best thing to ask him. He could tell me if he wanted to.  
"C'mon, Wyborne!" his uncle said from the car, "We've gotta get going!"  
Wybie and I looked down at our feet sadly.  
"I guess, uh... I guess this is it, Jonesy." Wybie said.  
"Yeah..." I said, biting my lower lip. To my surprise, Wybie hugged me tightly. But I didn't question it or punch him in the shoulder like I normally would. Instead, I returned the embrace.  
"Bye, Coraline." Wybie said.  
"Bye, Wybie." I said. I felt tears well up in my eyes, blurring my vision, but there was no way I would cry in front of Wybie, so I blinked them away. We released each other and Wybie trudged over to the car. Cat was standing beside me, and I couldn't really tell, but he looked sad, too.  
"You need him more than I do." Wybie said with a light smile, gesturing at Cat with his head. Cat made a purring noise. I stood in silence as I watched the car drive off into the distance, the moving van following it. When I was sure no one was watching, I busted into sobbing.  
"Y-you jerkwad!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. But I wasn't sure who I was even talking about. Was it Wybie? No, this wasn't his fault. Was it his gramma? No, she couldn't help what had happened. Who was I mad at?  
"Who's a jerkwad?" a young boy said. I turned around and saw Billy, a little boy who lived nearby, standing there with a curious look on his face. I quickly wiped the tears away.  
"N-no one." I said, "Now scram, kid, can't you see I wanna be alone?"  
"I'm NOT a kid." Billy protested, "I'm gonna be six this weekend! And YOU'RE coming to my birthday party, right?"  
I groaned and looked up in annoyance. Then I looked back at Billy.  
"I don't know." I said with an annoyed sigh. Then he did it. The thing that always made me crack: He pouted and looked up at me with big, sad eyes.  
"Oh, c'mon, Billy, don't do that!" I said, trying my best to stay strong. But Billy knew that was my weakness, and he didn't stop making those eyes. Finally, when I felt like I was going to bust, I gave in.  
"Okay, fine, I'll come to your party." I said.  
"Yay!" Billy cheered, "Thanks, Caroline!"  
"It's CORaline!" I said as Billy ran off. I sighed.  
_"Nice goin', Coraline." _I thought, _"You can defeat the Beldam, but you can't say no to a five-year-old making puppy-dog eyes."  
_As I walked back home, dreading the idea of going to a party with a bunch of little kids, I couldn't help but wonder who was moving in Wybie's old house. I had overheard Wybie's uncle Henry say something about them selling it to a family with two teenage boys.  
"Let's just hope they won't be like Randy, Troy, and Keith..." I muttered.  
"Aye!" a painfully familiar voice called out, "You mutterin' to yourself about us, freak?"  
I turned to see Randy, Troy, and Keith standing on the edge of the woods. I rolled my eyes.  
"Get lost." I snapped, continuing on my way. I was NOT in the mood to deal with them.  
"Aww... Poor wittle Coraline's fwiend weft, so now she has to talk to herself." Randy said in a humoring, babyish tone. I turned on my heel and glared at him sharply.  
"Shut up!" I yelled.  
"Oh-ho-ho, looks like I hit a nerve!" Randy said, he and his friends laughing, "Whatcha gonna do about it, kiddo?"  
"I don't have time for this." I muttered under my breath. With that I kept walking toward home, ignoring them jeering at me.  
_"Jerkwads..." _I thought. I just hoped that whoever was moving into Wybie's old house wouldn't have any trouble with them.


	2. New Neighbors

Chapter 2: New Neighbors.

~Coraline's POV~

It had been two days since Wybie moved away, and I hadn't heard anything from him yet. How far away did his aunt and uncle live, anyway? Ever since he moved I had been in a horrible mood. Every little thing seemed to make me mad, and the thought of going to Billy's birthday party on Saturday made it even worse.  
"Hm... Maybe if I try and make myself get sick, I won't have to go to Billy's party..." I thought aloud as I jumped over a puddle. I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice that I was getting closer to Wybie's old house.  
"Hello!" a friendly voice said. I looked over at the house and saw a lady waving and smiling at me. I waved back but didn't smile. It seemed like I had forgotten how to smile.  
"Hello." I said, trying my best to force a smile on my face. Nothing.  
"You must live at those apartments down the road." the lady said, "What are they called again? The, um... Pink Castle Apartments?"  
"Pink Palace." I corrected her.  
"Oh, yes, right." the lady said, her friendly smile not leaving her face, "Well, I'm Margaret. And that's my son Jeff and my son Liu."  
I hadn't even noticed the boys standing out there, helping the men load boxes into the house. The two boys appeared to be around my age, and Jeff had light brown hair and blue eyes, and Liu had dark brown hair and green eyes.  
"Jeff is 13 and Liu is 12." Margaret said with a smile, "How old are you?"  
"12." I said.  
"Well, I bet you three'll get along just fine!" Margaret said, taking a box into the house. Liu did the same. So the only ones outside now were me and Jeff, and I couldn't help but notice he was staring at me. I looked over at him and glared at him.  
"What?" I asked. Jeff chuckled.  
"Hey, hey, no need to get pissed off." Jeff said, raising his hands up in a defensive way, "Anyway, who're you?"  
"What does it matter?" I asked, then sighed, "Look, I'm sorry I'm being a jerk, I just-"  
"Your best friend lived here." Jeff said. I blinked in surprise. How the heck did he know that?  
"Hey... How'd you know that?" I asked, crossing my arms.  
"Lucky guess." Jeff said with a grin, "Now can you PLEASE tell me what your name is?"  
He got down on his knees and started playfully making puppy-dog eyes. I felt the corner of my mouth twitch, and then I smiled for the first time in two days.  
"Well... If ya wanna know... You'll have to catch me first." I said with a playful smirk.  
"Aw, c'mon, I don't have time for this kid stuff." Jeff said.  
"Well, looks like you won't know my name, then..." I said, turning on my heel and starting to slowly walk off.  
"Oh, alright, fine." Jeff said, "But, lemme just warn ya, I'm a pretty fast runner."  
I looked at him and smirked.  
"Pfft!" I scoffed, "Yeah, right, we'll see about that."  
Before I knew it we had both taken off running, Jeff close behind me but me still managing not to get caught, and we were both laughing the entire time.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I couldn't help but feel a little dumb at first. I mean, this was kid stuff! But I wanted to know her name, right? As we ran, I began to pick up the pace, and before I knew it I was right behind her. Now all I had to do was catch her. I reached out and grabbed her arm.  
"Aw, man!" she said as I pulled her to a stop.  
"Haha!" I said, trying to catch my breath, "Caught ya! Now tell me your name."  
The girl put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.  
"Do I *pant pant* have to?" she asked. I crossed my arms.  
"YES." I said in a playfully stern voice. She grinned.  
"Okay, okay, calm down." she said, putting her hands up defensively like I did before, "It's Coraline."  
"Coraline?" I asked, "Whoa... Cool name."  
She grinned.  
"Thanks." she replied. I wasn't sure, but I had a feeling I'd like it here. Something about that girl made me feel... Happier than I had before. I mean, I had been pretty excited about leaving and going to a better house, but she was making it more... Enjoyable. Not to mention she was pretty, but I didn't dare to tell her that. She seemed like one of those girls who would punch you in the face if you said something she didn't like.  
"Most people get my name wrong." Coraline said, "They call me 'Caroline' instead of 'Coraline'."  
I laughed lightly.  
"Heh, I guess that gets annoying, huh?" I asked.  
"You don't know the HALF of it." Coraline said. After a minute or two of staring at each other awkwardly, I suddenly remembered something.  
"Sh**! I've gotta get back home." I said, "I'll see ya later, Cora. I can call you 'Cora', right?"  
She smirked.  
"Sure." she said. I grinned, waved good-bye, and then ran back home. When I got there, Liu was standing there waiting for me.  
"What?" I asked. He raised a brow.  
"You like her, don't you?" he asked with a smirk.  
"Oh, shut up, I do not!" I said, punching him in the shoulder playfully. Liu laughed and the two of us kept loading boxes into the house until we were done. But I couldn't help but look forward to seeing that girl again. She seemed interesting.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

"Well, someone's in a better mood." Mom said to me as I walked in the house. And I guess I DID look like I was in a better mood. I wasn't slouching as I walked, I had a smile on my face, and although I couldn't see it, I knew my eyes were sparkling.  
"Yeah!" I said, "Our new neighbors are AWESOME."  
"Oh, you met the new neighbors?" Mom asked, "I'll have to go see them sometime soon."  
"Yeah, you'll like Miss Margaret." I said, "And I'm sure Dad'll get along with her husband, too!"  
Mom smiled at me as I skipped upstairs into my room. When I got to my room, I checked my email to see if Wybie had sent me anything. Nothing.  
"Well, if he's not gonna send me anything, I'll send HIM something." I said, tired of waiting. So I sent him an email:

**Hey Wybie! :) The new neighbors are really nice. I think I'll get along with them alright. Anyway, how're things in... Wherever the hell you are, lol. It's been FOREVER since you've emailed me!... Well, I guess 2 days isn't forever, is it? Well, it's felt like it. :( Email me back when ya can! :3 -Coraline aka Jonesy.**

As soon as I clicked 'send', I heard a familiar "Reowww..." at my window. I looked over and saw Cat sitting on the windowsill with his head tilted slightly to the right. With a grin I opened the window and let him in.  
"Hey, Cat." I said. Cat purred in response.  
"What is it?" I asked. Cat gestured with his head for me to follow him. I opened my bedroom door for him and he walked out, with me following him into the den. The DEN?! This was the place the little door was! He didn't want me to go in THERE, did he?! Thankfully, he stopped at the door.  
"Well, what is it?" I whispered.  
"It's the new neighbors." Cat whispered, "Something's up."  
"What is?" I asked.  
"Well, it hasn't happened yet, but something is going to happen to that Jeff fellow." Cat said, "But I'm not sure what."  
"What're you talking about? NOTHING will happen to them." I said, "... You're just joking, right?"  
Cat shook his head.  
"No, I'm not joking." Cat said, narrowing his eyes a bit, "I'm just telling you this: Be careful. If you see anything that seems wrong with Jeff, let me know."  
"But-" I got interrupted.  
"Just be careful." Cat said. With that Cat walked over to the open window and jumped out. I sat there on the floor, uncomfortably close to the little door, but I was too confused to notice it. What was going to happen to Jeff?  
_"Well, there's NO WAY I'm telling Jeff that a talking cat told me that something bad was going to happen to him." _I thought, crossing my arms, _"Does he mean the bullies are gonna hurt him? Well, I won't let that happen. I'm not letting those jerkwads hurt Jeff OR his brother."  
_With that I returned to my room, still thinking on the subject.


	3. Cats Can Talk!

Chapter 3: Cats Can Talk?!

~Jeff's POV~

It was Sunday. Brilliant. That meant school the next day. Since I didn't have anything else better to do, I decided to take a walk.  
"Ooo~ Goin' to go see your girlfriend?" Liu teased as I put my shoes on. I sharply glared at him.  
"One more word outta you and you'll regret it." I said, "And she's NOT my girlfriend!"  
"Mhm, yup, sure." Liu said, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed way and walking off. No matter how much I wanted to punch him in the face, I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was my little brother, after all, even though we didn't have that much of an age difference. As I was walking down the dirt path, I noticed a pink house ahead.  
"What the...? What's this place?" I wondered aloud, "Wait... Is this the Pink Palace place my mom was talking about? Hey! This is where Coraline lives..."  
I figured it wouldn't be such a bad idea to pay her a visit, so I walked over to the building. When I did, a man with pale blue skin wearing gym clothes jumped down in front of me out of nowhere.  
"AGH!" I screamed, startled.  
_"What the hell is with his skin?!" _I wondered.  
"Hello." he said. He had a Russian accent.  
"Hi...?" I said, raising a brow and considering if I should leave or not.  
"You must be a friend of Caroline's, no?" the man asked, standing on one leg and tilting his head to the side.  
"Uh, yeah..." I said, "And her name is Coraline, not Caroline."  
"Your name wouldn't happen to be Jeffrey Woods, would it, little boy?" the man asked, standing on his other leg now and tilting his head to the left. I narrowed my eyes. Just who the hell was this guy, anyway?  
"Yeah, I'm Jeff." I said, crossing my arms, "And who're you?"  
"I, young man, am the amazing Mr. Bobinski!" he said, "But you may call me Mr. B. Because amazing I already know that I am!"  
"Uh..." was all I could manage to say. Finally, when I had come to my senses after being extremely weirded out, I was finally able to ask him something.  
"How did you know who I was?" I asked.  
"The jumping mice told me about a Jeffrey Woods." Mr. B said, "They said he was in grave danger, as was his family, and maybe, perhaps, even Caroline. But the mice ALWAYS get her name wrong! They call her Coraline instead of Caroline! Maybe I work them too hard..."  
"What do you-" I was interrupted.  
"Well, I must be getting back to training my mice for the circus." Mr B said, walking up some stairs, "Oh, and take this."  
He tossed me a beet, which I caught.  
"Good for you." Mr B said. With that he walked up the stairs, and I heard a door shut.  
"Ugh..." I said, throwing the beet over my shoulder. I heard a cat meow, and when I turned around I saw a black cat standing behind me with its head tilted to the side.  
"What?" I asked. Then I felt like an idiot. Why was I talking to cats?  
"Oh, nothing." the cat replied. I nearly passed out. Was I hallucinating? Or had the cat ACTUALLY talked to me?  
"I just thought I'd drop by." the cat said, "Oh, and by the way, ask Coraline about me. She knows I can speak, too."  
With that the cat ran off before I could question anything. What the hell was up with this place? It was like everyone here was on drugs. Well, everyone except Coraline, of course. She seemed to be the only one here with any sense. As if a cat hadn't just talked to me, I calmly knocked on the front door of the place.  
"I'll get it!" a familiar voice said. Sure enough, Coraline opened the door after a few seconds.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

I was a bit surprised to see Jeff there. I hadn't expected to see him until Monday at school.  
"Oh, hey, Jeff." I said with a smile.  
"Hey, Cora." Jeff said, smiling and putting his hands in his pockets, "I, uh... Just met that Mr. B guy..."  
I couldn't help but giggle.  
"You did?" I asked, "Haha, so what'd ya think of him?"  
"I think he's on drugs..." Jeff said. I laughed, and after a few seconds Jeff joined me.  
"Anyway, wanna come inside?" I asked.  
"Sure." Jeff said. As I led him inside, I couldn't help but feel... Nostalgic? What was making me feel nostalgic? Was it because Jeff reminded me of one of my friends back in Michigan? That must have been it.  
"Cool place." Jeff said as we entered the den.  
"Thanks." I said with a light smile. I saw Jeff look over at the little door, and I felt like my heart skipped a beat.  
"What's that?" Jeff asked, kneeling down and examining the door, "Is this a door?"  
"Oh, uh, yeah." I said, "But it's all bricked up."  
"Ah." Jeff said with a nod, standing back up. I mentally wiped sweat off of my forehead. That was a close one. What if he had asked about the little door? What if he had wanted me to open it? Before we made it out of the den, Cat ran up to the doorway and stopped us. Jeff looked nervous now that Cat was here. Was he scared of cats? Was he allergic to them or something?  
"Hello." Cat said.  
"Hello." I replied.  
"He's doing it!" Jeff said, "He's talking again! What the hel-"  
I covered Jeff's mouth.  
"It's okay." I said, "It freaked me out a little at first, too."  
"Why is he talking?!" Jeff asked. It was muffled, however, from my hand over his mouth.  
"He just can." I said, remembering what Cat had said to me a year ago in the Other World. Before I knew it, the three of us were chatting like old friends. Cat was telling us stories about his life, Jeff told us about his old neighborhood, and I told them about the adventures me and Wybie had together, leaving out the stuff about the Other World. To my surprise, talking about Wybie didn't make me feel sad. It made me feel... Happy. I mean, we'd see each other again, right? And even though I'd miss seeing Wybie every day, I'd have Jeff and Liu.  
"Wow... That seems pretty cool." Jeff said, "Maybe you can show me the old well sometime."  
"Yeah!" I said with a grin, "Wanna see it now?"  
"Sure." Jeff said with a shrug. With that the three of us walked out of the den and headed outside toward the well.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I followed Coraline up and down a few small hills and finally to the old well.  
"Well, here it is." Coraline said, "Wybie once told me that if you fell down it that you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day."  
"Damn..." I said, dropping a small pebble into a tiny hole in the well and then listening. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I heard it splash into the water.  
"Well, damn, I guess it is pretty deep, huh?" I said. Coraline chuckled.  
"Yup." she replied. I couldn't help but admire her. She and I seemed to have so much in common, and yet we were so different at the same time. I was some gloomy, easily-irritated kid, and she was easily-irritated, but adventurous and fun-loving... I was glad I had met her. I had a feeling we'd be really good friends. Just as long as Liu would stop saying she's my girlfriend, everything would be fine, right?


	4. Bullies

Chapter 4: Bullies.

~Coraline's POV~

I always dreaded going to school. For one thing, all of the kids there were SO annoying, but none of them were as annoying as Randy, Troy, and Keith. The girls always talked about One Direction or some guy they had a crush on, and I never seemed to get along with ANYONE there, not even the guys. For another thing, the uniforms were boring and gray, and everything seemed so... Gloomy all the time.  
"Hopefully having Jeff here won't make things so bad..." I thought aloud as I put on my school uniform. Thankfully, the school hadn't made me remove the blue dye from my hair. If they had, I probably would've died. And they probably would have if the principal hadn't said, "Let her keep it! It suits her."  
"Coraline, hurry up!" Dad called out from downstairs.  
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I said, rolling my eyes and running downstairs.  
"Is your boyfriend walking you to the bus stop?" Dad asked. I could've choked him.  
"Dad, he IS NOT my boyfriend." I said through clenched teeth as I put on my shoes.  
"Charlie, stop teasing her." Mom said.  
"Okay, okay." Dad said, smiling at me and kissing me on the forehead. After I said good-bye to my parents, I got out of there as soon as I could.  
"Maybe if I'm lucky I can make it there before Randy and his minions get there..." I thought aloud. Unfortunately, I hadn't made it in time, and Jeff and Liu were already there, looking like they were about to tackle Randy and his friends.  
"Oh, no..." I said as I ran over. Before I could get there, all hell broke loose. Jeff grabbed Randy's wrist and broke it. Randy screamed in pain. Jeff threw Randy to the ground and grabbed the knife from Keith, stabbing him in the arm. Troy ran over at Jeff but Jeff kicked him in the stomach, knocking him down.  
"Jeff, how did you-" Liu was interrupted by the bus approaching them, and Jeff looked over at me.  
"C'mon, let's get outta here." Jeff said, looking at me as if he wanted ME to come along too. Well, since I didn't want anyone to think that I had beat the hell out of those kids, (not because I would've felt bad for it, but just because I didn't want to get arrested,) I ran with Jeff and Liu. When we got to school, I couldn't help but feel... Worried. Something was up with Jeff, I could tell. He didn't look like he had just beaten up and stabbed a few kids. He looked... Happy. Happier than usual. What was going on?  
"Jeff, you okay?" I asked him on the way home from school. Jeff looked at me and grinned.  
"I'm wonderful." Jeff said, patting me on the shoulder and continuing to walk. The next day, I heard Cat pawing at my window. I forced myself to wake up and walk over to the window, but before I could open it for Cat, he stepped aside to show police cars in front of Jeff's house.  
"Oh, no..." I said, my eyes wide. Had they caught him? To my surprise, the cops didn't lead Jeff out of the house, but they had Liu. Liu? He hadn't even done anything!  
"Liu, tell them it was me!" I heard Jeff yelling, "Tell them I did it!"  
But nothing happened, and I watched sadly as Jeff sat helplessly in the driveway on his knees as the police cars drove off with Liu. I didn't even bother with getting dressed. I ran downstairs and out the door before my parents could question anything.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I couldn't believe he had done this. I couldn't believe this was happening. My brother was going to JDC for something I had done. Before I knew it, as I was sobbing on my knees in the driveway, I felt two arms wrap around me. I opened my eyes and couldn't see the person's face, but I didn't care. I returned the hug, crying in their shoulder.  
"I-it's okay, it's okay..." a familiar voice said. It was Coraline.  
"H-he wouldn't tell them it was me!" I yelled, hugging her tighter, "This is my fault, all my fault!"  
I heard Coraline sniffle. I could tell she was crying, too. But why? She hadn't done anything wrong.  
"It's okay, Jeff." Coraline said, "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't control what happened, you did what you had to do, right?"  
I guessed she was right, but I couldn't help but feel like this was my fault. But I felt better having somebody hug me like this. I never would've thought that Coraline would the type of person to hug someone, but I guessed she was, after all. And I didn't mind. It made me feel better. I buried my face in Coraline's shoulder and kept crying. I didn't care if it was embarrassing. I didn't care if anyone saw. I didn't care about anything anymore. I just wanted my brother back.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

I continued hugging Jeff until he stopped crying, which seemed to take forever. I wasn't sure if I was comforting him in the right way, but it seemed to work.  
"T-thanks... Coraline..." Jeff said, wiping the tears from his eyes.  
"No problem." I said, blinking the last few tears that were in my eyes away. Why had I been crying? Was it because I was seeing Jeff cry? Or was it because there was nothing I could do to help?  
"I-I've gotta go..." Jeff said. With that he walked back inside, and I headed back home.  
"Coraline, have you been crying?" Mom asked.  
"No." I lied.  
"Well, why were you outside?" Mom asked, "I didn't see you in the yard!"  
"Jeff needed my help with something." I said with a shrug. Before she could ask anymore questions, I ran upstairs to check my email. Sure enough, Wybie had emailed me.

**Hey Jonesy! Things have been going pretty well here, I guess. It's been kinda boring, though. I would send more, but I've gotta go. I'll talk to ya later! -Wybie.**

I groaned. Was that all he could send me? But, even though that annoyed me a little, I didn't really care. Jeff didn't show up at school that day, and I didn't blame him. I wouldn't have shown up, either.


	5. The Party

Chapter 5: The Party.

~Coraline's POV~

"Coraline!" Mom called me. I groaned as I remembered that it was Saturday, the day of Billy's party. Had it been that many days after the incident?  
"What?" I called back.  
"Didn't you say you were going to Billy's party today?" Mom called out.  
"Uhh..." was all I could say.  
"Hurry up and get ready! I've gotten everything else ready for you, and your dad and I are coming along." Mom said.  
"Okay!" I said, although I really didn't want to go. After what had happened, I really didn't want to go anywhere. Well... Anywhere except for Jeff's house. For the past few days I had been going over to Jeff's house to see how he was, and although I may have cheered him up a little, I didn't do much. Was Jeff coming to the party, too? I couldn't remember. I put on my dark blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans and black converse shoes and walked downstairs.  
"Ugh, Coraline, why don't you wear some color?" Mom asked.  
"I am." I said, "I'm wearing blue and black."  
Mom sighed. Apparently she didn't approve of my dressing style, but that didn't really matter to me.  
"Well, alright." Mom said, "C'mon, Charlie, let's go!"  
Dad walked out of the bathroom, wearing a suit and tie. I wanted to facepalm. Why were they dressing like this? It was a six-year-old boy's birthday party for crying out loud! Mom was dressed up, too, wearing a dark purple blouse and black skirt. It was sorta funny to me how she got on my case about wearing dark colors, and here she was wearing dark colors. Oh well.  
"What'd you get for me to give Billy?" I asked on the walk over to Billy's house.  
"I got him an activity book and crayons." Mom said. I guessed that would be okay. Billy seemed to like coloring, but I hadn't been around Billy that much, so I wasn't sure. Finally we arrived, and the place was packed. Inside it was filled with grown-ups, and in the backyard, where I had made my way to, it was filled with little kids. Well, ALMOST filled with little kids anyway. There was someone standing under a tree wearing a white hoodie and black dress pants. It was Jeff!  
"Hey! Jeff!" I called out, making my way over to him. I couldn't quite tell, but he looked like he was glad to see me.  
"Hey, Cora." he said with a light smile.  
"How've you been?" I asked.  
"Okay, I guess." Jeff said, shrugging his shoulders. Suddenly a little boy wearing a cowboy hat and holding a fake gun walked over to us.  
"Wanna pway wif us?" the boy asked.  
"No thanks, kid." Jeff said, "We're kinda busy here."  
"Pwease?" the boy asked, making puppy-dog eyes. Apparently that made Jeff want to snap, too, because we looked at each other warily and then back at the kid. Jeff sighed.  
"Alright, fine." Jeff said.  
"Yay!" the boy cheered handing us each a toy gun and cowboy hat, which we hesitantly put on. When I looked over at Jeff, I busted into a fit of giggles.  
"Howdy, pardner." I joked, laughing. He looked so ridiculous! Jeff smirked and pointed the squirt gun at me.  
"EEK!" I yelled, ducking out of the way just as he shot water at me. Before I knew it, the two of us were running around trying to hit each other with squirt guns.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I was having way more fun than I thought I would have. Coraline and I were chasing each other around, and to be honest, I didn't care if we looked ridiculous running around like a couple of little kids. This was... Fun. How could I have been having fun at a time like that? My brother was in JDC for something I had done, and now I was stuck at a six-year-old's birthday party, and yet I was having FUN. What was it? Was it because Coraline was there? That had to have been it. She'd been trying to cheer me up for the past few days, and now it was finally working. I squirted her in the back of the head with my squirt gun, laughing.  
"Haha! Gotcha!" I said triumphantly. Coraline laughed and shook her head back and forth, causing drops of water to fling around everywhere.  
"Lucky shot!" Coraline said, turning around to face me and putting her hands on her hips.  
"Rematch?" I asked, "Best outta three."  
"Alright, you're on." Coraline said. Just as she aimed her gun at me, I took off running.  
"Haha! Can't catch me, Cora!" I shouted.  
"We'll see about that!" she said, making her way through a crowd of little kids to get over to me. I kept on running, looking back every now and then to see if she was catching up to me.  
"Wait! Time out!" Coraline said. I looked over and saw that she was out of breath. I playfully aimed my gun at her and walked over.  
"Okay, but if this is a trick..." I said.  
"It's not, it's not." Coraline said, chuckling, "Wanna go grab something to drink?"  
"Sure." I said. The two of us walked into the kitchen, which was empty, surprisingly. Coraline sat on the counter and opened a can of Fanta Orange and drank some of it. I sat next to her and grabbed a Sprite.  
"This is... Fun." Coraline said, still out of breath.  
"Yeah." I said, chuckling, "It surprisingly is. Who would've thought a little kid's birthday party would be fun, right?"  
We laughed a little.  
"Yeah..." Coraline said. Suddenly our eyes met, and we stared at each other for what seemed like forever. I smiled a little. Coraline was one of the best friends I had ever had, and even though we hadn't known each other for too long, it seemed like an eternity. Then something happened. As if it was automatically happening, we scooted closer to each other.  
"Ya know, Coraline," I said, "You're one of the best friends I've ever had. Hell, you might even be THE best friend I've ever had."  
Coraline grinned.  
"You might be the best friend I've ever had, too." she said. I wanted this day to stay like this. Me and Coraline, hanging out, squirting each other with squirt guns, talking, chasing each other around. If it wasn't for all the noisy adults in the other room, it would've been perfect.  
"Wanna go back outside and continue our battle?" Coraline asked, putting down her can of soda.  
"Bring it on, Blue-Hair." I said in a teasing tone, smirking. Coraline smirked back. We both ran back outside, still wearing our hats and holding our toy guns. But then everything when wrong.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

To my shock and horror, Randy and his friends jumped the fence on their skateboards. Jeff tore off his hat and I did the same.  
"Hello, Jeff, is it?" Randy said, "I believe we have some unfinished business."  
"I think we're even." Jeff said, sharply glaring at Randy and sort of stepping in front of me a little, "I beat the crap out of you, you got my brother sent to JDC."  
Randy got an angry look in his eyes.  
"Oh, I don't go for even." he said, "I go for winning."  
"Shut the hell up, Randy!" I yelled, "Just go home and finish your pouting there!"  
"Stay outta this, Caroline!" Randy said, looking at me with a sharp glare, then looking back at Jeff, "You may have kicked our asses that one day, but not today."  
Then everything went berserk. Randy and Jeff were on the ground fighting, Troy and Keith had pulled out guns, threatening to shoot anyone who got in the way, kids were screaming, parents were rushing to get their kids in the house. My legs were trying to rush over to Jeff and Randy but I wouldn't allow myself to. I'd get shot. No, there had to be something else to do. But what? I felt so useless. Troy grabbed Jeff by the collar of his hoodie.  
"Need some help?" he asked, throwing Jeff through the patio door. Randy started repeatedly kicking Jeff.  
"YOU JERKWADS!" I yelled, charging at Randy. I felt someone grab me by my arm. It was Keith. He threw me to the ground and I hit my head on the corner of the kitchen counter. My vision was blurry, but I forced myself to stand.  
"Ah-ah-ah!" Troy said, kicking the back of my legs and knocking me down again, "Stay down, kid!"  
I felt angry tears well up in my eyes as I watched Jeff and Randy fighting.  
"Come on, Jeff, fight me!" Randy yelled, picking Jeff up and throwing him into the living room.  
"JEFF!" I screamed.  
"Come on, Jeff, look at me!" Randy said. Jeff glanced up at him. I could tell his face was covered in blood.  
"I was the one who got your brother sent to JDC!" Randy continued, "And now you're just gonna sit here and let him rot in there for a whole year! You should be ashamed!"  
"Stop it!" I yelled, but Troy covered my mouth.  
"Shut up!" he snapped. I wasn't scared of them anymore. I bit Troy on the hand, hard, causing him to scream out in pain.  
"You little b**ch!" he yelled. He slammed my head against the counter, and then everything went black.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

That was it. All rational thinking was gone. I had snapped. The only thing I was thinking was: "Kill them. Kill them all."  
I stood up.  
"Oh finally!" Randy said, "You stand and fight!"  
I knocked him to the ground and punched him straight in the heart, causing his heart to stop. As he gasped for breath I punched him again and again, until he breathed one final breath, and died. Everyone was looking at me, but I didn't care. My eyes glazed over to Coraline's unconscious body. She was the only one who I wanted to live. The others meant nothing to me. Troy and Keith were even looking at me now, and they each pulled out a gun. I ran to the stairs, each shot they fired at me missing. They were chasing me, and I ran into the bathroom. I grabbed the towel rack off of the wall.  
**_"Stop_****_it!_****"** I heard Coraline's yell echo through my mind. Troy and Keith raced in, knives ready. Troy swung his knife at me, but missed, and I hit him hard with the towel rack, instantly killing him. Now all who was left was Keith. Keith grabbed me by the neck and pushed me into the wall, causing a bottle of bleach to fall down and cover us both in bleach, burning our eyes. I tried to wipe my eyes the best that I could. I hit Keith in the head with the towel rack, but as he lay there bleeding to death, he grinned.  
"What's so funny?" I asked.  
"What's funny..." Keith said, pulling a lighter out of his pocket, "Is that you're covered in bleach and alcohol."  
My eyes widened as Keith threw the lighter at me. Instantly I was on fire. I screeched in pain. I had never felt so much pain as the fire bleached my skin and burned me severely. I tried to roll out the fire, but it was no use. The last thing I saw as I ran downstairs, still trying to put out the fire, was my parents and several other adults, including Coraline's parents, trying to extinguish the flames. Then I passed out.


	6. Jeff Is A Killer

Chapter 6: Jeff Is A Killer.

~Coraline's POV~

Tears streamed down my face as I sat on a bench outside of Jeff's room in the hospital. It had been a few weeks since the incident, and I had been going with Jeff's family to visit Jeff, although he couldn't talk to me. They had let Liu go, because all of the witnesses, (including me,) had said that Randy confessed to attacking Jeff and Liu.  
"Hey... Cora?" Liu said. I looked over at him. I hadn't really talked to Liu much, so I was a little surprised that he was talking to me.  
"Yeah?" I said, wiping some of my tears away.  
"Why're you crying? He's gonna be okay, don't worry." Liu said, putting a hand on my shoulder sympathetically. I looked down and nodded. But I couldn't help but feel horrible. I could've done something to help him, but I didn't. And now Jeff was suffering. Well, at least those bullies were dead and in hell where they belonged. Today was the day that the bandages were going to be removed.  
"Let's hope for the best." the doctor said as we sat in Jeff's room. He removed the bandages from Jeff's face. Margaret screamed at the sight, Peter, (Jeff's dad,) gasped, and Liu and I merely stared in shock. That's when I realized something. This is was Cat was talking about. Jeff's skin was completely white, his lips were a dark red color, his hair was singed from brown to black.  
"U-umm... Jeff?" I said, "It's not that bad..."  
"Yeah." Liu agreed.  
"Not that bad?" Jeff asked, looking in a mirror that one of the nurses had given him, "It's PERFECT!"  
Liu and I exchanged a glance as if to say, "What the hell?"  
Jeff started laughing uncontrollably, and his left hand and eye were twitching.  
"Uh... Jeff? Are you okay?" Liu asked.  
"Okay? I've never felt more happy! Ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaa, look at me. This face goes perfectly with me!" Jeff started staring into the mirror, stroking his face. I knew that something definitely was wrong. This wasn't Jeff. Something had happened to him, and it wasn't good at all.  
_"Cat was right..." _I thought.  
"Doctor?" Margaret asked, "Is he alright... You know, in the head?"  
"Oh, yes." the doctor said, "This behavior is typical for patients who have taken large amounts of painkillers. If his behavior doesn't change in a few weeks, bring him back here and we'll give him a psychological test."  
"Oh, thank you doctor." Margaret said, "Jeff, sweetie, it's time to go."  
"'Kay Mommy! Ha ha ha haaaaaa!" Jeff said, turning away from the mirror with a crazy smile on his face. His mom took him by the shoulder and led him to go get his clothes. Liu and I followed.  
"Damn... How many painkillers did they give him?" Liu asked.  
"Don't ask me." I said, "But he's... Scaring me."  
"Me too..." Liu said, nodding his head a couple of times. After Jeff got his clothes, we went home. That night, I couldn't sleep. The noise of Jeff's psychotic laughter echoed through my brain, and tears welled up in my eyes when I remembered the Jeff that I knew. A shriek came from Jeff's house, and I jolted up in bed. I didn't hesitate. I put on my long-sleeved dark purple shirt and my black vest, my favorite hat, my dark blue jeans, and my boots. I grabbed a knife out of the kitchen for protection. Who screamed? Who was hurt? Was it Jeff? Or had Jeff hurt someone? That didn't matter to me. As I ran toward Jeff's house, Cat ran out in front of me, causing me to stop.  
"Outta my way!" I said, lifting him with my foot and moving him out of the way. I continued going over to Jeff's house, unaware of the danger I was in.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I stared down at Liu's lifeless body and broke into psychotic laughter.  
"Just go to sleep, Liu... AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I said, stabbing him over and over again, loving the feeling of his blood soaking me. As my laughter ceased, I heard footsteps in the house. I grinned.  
"More visitors..." I whispered to Liu's body, chuckling and grabbing the knife out of his chest, walking into the hallway. As I made my way downstairs, I saw a familiar girl walking in the house, gripping a knife tightly.  
"Hehehe... Hello... Coraline..." I said, standing at the bottom of the stairs, my left eye twitching. Coraline turned to face me, and her eyes widened in horror.  
"J-J-Jeff?" she stuttered, taking a step back. I chuckled. She looked cute when she was scared.  
"What's wrong, Coraline?" I asked, taking a step closer to her, "Aren't I beautiful? Mommy and Daddy didn't think so... So I put them to sleep..."

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

The smell of fresh blood made me want to puke. Jeff's face was terrifying, but it didn't bother me as much as the fact that he had just killed his parents. Was Liu still alive? Most likely he wasn't.  
"S-sleep?" I asked, "Y-you mean y-you k-killed them?"  
Jeff chuckled, his right hand, (which was holding the knife,) twitching.  
"Yes..." Jeff said, "And, come to think of it, my dear, it's past your bedtime. So why don't you just... Go. To. SLEEP!"  
Jeff plunged the knife at me but I quickly dodged it, taking off upstairs. Not my best idea, but I was panicking. I wanted to cry. Jeff, the guy who I thought was my new best friend, was trying to kill me. I knew this was more than painkillers, the doctor was an idiot.  
"Cat was right... Cat was right..." I kept telling myself, tears welling up in my eyes. I couldn't allow myself to cry now. That didn't matter. I ran into Jeff's bedroom and slammed the door shut, locking it.  
"Oh, God..." I said, breathing heavily, "What now?"  
"Oh, Coraline?~" Jeff said in a sing-song tone, "Where are you?~"  
I tried to get the window open, but it was stuck.  
"No, no, no, no, c'mon!" I said, trying my best to open it, "OPEN!"  
The door broke down, and there was Jeff standing in the doorway, his eye twitching.  
"Found you~" Jeff said, charging over to me and pinning me to the wall, causing me to drop my knife. This was it. I was done for.  
"N-no... Please..." I begged.  
"Tell me, Coraline... Am I beautiful?" Jeff asked. I nodded quickly.  
"Yes!" I said.  
"Really?" Jeff asked, holding his knife to my neck.  
"Yes!" I said. Jeff moved the knife away.  
"Coraline, you know I can't kill you..." Jeff said, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him, "I just want to make you beautiful..."  
My legs were trembling. Did he want to make me look like him?  
"O-oh, um, I'd love to, really!" I said, smiling as convincingly as I could, "But, um, I have to get home."  
"And why is that?" Jeff asked, tilting his head to the left a little bit.  
"Because... Well, I'm REALLY tired, yeah." I said, forcing myself to yawn, "I think I need to sleep on things, and I'll decide tomorrow, okay?"  
"Hm..." Jeff said, "I'm afraid I can't wait until tomorrow, my dear, I must get going."  
I felt an extremely sharp pain in my shoulder, and I let out a scream of pain as Jeff stabbed me in the shoulder. He chuckled psychotically.  
"I'll be back for you later, Coraline." Jeff said, "Aww... That looks like it hurts... Hehehehe... Poor thing... Maybe this'll make it better..."  
Jeff stabbed me again, an inch away from the first stab.  
"AGGHHHHHH!" I screamed in pain, tears falling from my face. Jeff laughed psychotically.  
"See you around, Coraline..." Jeff said, patting me on the head before kicking the window, shattering the glass and jumping out the window. I tightly clutched my shoulder, trying to keep the blood from leaking too much. Just as I heard someone run in the room, I blacked out.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I ran through the woods, chuckling as I remembered Coraline's terrified face. Then something happened. I began to feel... Bad. Not for killing my parents or brother, but for hurting Coraline.  
"Maybe I... Should've just left..." I thought aloud.  
**"NO!" **one of the voices said, **"Don't feel regret, DON'T FEEL IT."  
**I continued sprinting through the woods. This was what I was now. I was a cold-blooded killer. Or was I?  
"No... I'm saving this people..." I said to myself, "I'm saving them from this horrible world... I'LL SAVE THEM."


	7. Four Years Later

Chapter 7: Four Years Later.

~Coraline's POV~

That night. That horrible, horrible night. It still haunted me. Even more than the Beldam, even. My nightmares seemed endless. They were either about Jeff or about the Other Mother. It became so bad that I was scared to sleep, even when I got into high school. But almost as soon as summer started, everything seemed to change.  
"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..." was all I heard as my math teacher spoke. All I was focused on was when class was ending. I wanted to leave this stupid school and I wanted summer to begin. At least that would end one of my troubles. My hair had grown to my shoulders and was still blue, although the school didn't really approve. But I didn't care what they said. Finally, as if right on cue to snap me out of my thoughts, the bell rang. I was out of the classroom before the teacher could even say good-bye to us.  
"Well, someone was eager to get outta class." a girl named Abigail, who had become my friend in the eighth grade, said, walking beside me. I snorted.  
"Yeah..." I said, "At least school's finally over..."  
"Hey, um... Have you been having any nightmares about... That?" Abigail asked. I was silent for a moment as we walked, then I spoke up.  
"Yeah." I replied, trying to sound casual.  
"Oh..." Abigail said, biting her lower lip. She was one of the only people besides Wybie who I had told about the incident with Jeff. I never told her about the Other Mother, though. I mean, I had proof of what happened to Jeff and I: The scars in my shoulder from where he stabbed me, the newspapers, and news clips. But with the Other Mother I had no proof at all except for me witnessing it, but I was the only one who had survived the Beldam, after all, so I was pretty sure Abigail would think I was nuts if I even tried to tell her about it.  
"Coraline? Coraline, snap out of it!" Abigail said, flicking me on the cheek.  
"Huh? What? What is it?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.  
"I was asking you something." Abigail said, crossing her arms, her red hair, (that was long and in a ponytail,) swishing along as we walked.  
"Oh, um, sorry." I said, "I was just thinking. Anyway, what were you gonna ask?"  
"Well... About that Jeff The Killer guy... Have you watched the news recently?" Abigail asked. I shook my head from side to side and she bit her lower lip.  
"W-well... You may wanna watch it... Look it up online." Abigail said. Just as she said that, I noticed that we were at the path that led to my house.  
"Well, I'll see ya around, Abigail." I said, smiling a little and waving good-bye to her as I ran home. As I ran, I saw Billy, who was now ten, riding his bike. He stopped when he saw me. Ever since the incident, we had become pretty good friends.  
"Hey, Coraline." Billy said with a grin. I returned the smile.  
"Hi, Billy." I said. Normally I would've been annoyed with him, but after that traumatizing thing, I decided to be nicer to him.  
"Can you take me to the pool later?" Billy asked, "I mean, you're sixteen, you can drive."  
I grinned and rolled my eyes.  
"We'll see." I said. Billy groaned.  
"You sound just like a grown-up." Billy said, smiling a little and riding off. I chuckled and continued walking home. I couldn't help but be in a brighter mood. I tried to focus on the good things: That Wybie would come to visit me this summer, that I could drive now- But just as I was thinking about the good things, the bad things made their way into my brain: That dad had been killed in a car crash when I was 13, that Jeff... I shook my head to get rid of the bad thoughts, but it didn't seem to work, and I was walking inside with tears streaming down my face.  
"Coraline!" Mom said, rushing over to me and hugging me, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"  
"I was just... Thinking about Dad..." I said, returning the hug.  
"Oh, sweetie, don't be sad." Mom said, "Think of it this way: He's in a better place now."  
I nodded, but it didn't help at all. I went upstairs without another word and went in my room, sitting on my bed. Cat was sitting on my bed already.  
"Hey..." I said, patting him on the head. Cat looked at me. I wished he could talk in this world and that he didn't have to be near the little door. That would be nice.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I walked through the dark woods. Although it was daytime, the woods were so thick it made it seem like night. I was covered in the blood of my last victim, giggling psychotically.  
"Poor little girl..." I said, licking blood off of my knife, "She never saw it coming... Hehehe..."  
As I walked, I saw light streaming in through the trees up ahead. I must've been getting closer to the exit of the woods.  
"Hm... Maybe there'll be someone else to kill..." I thought aloud with a chuckle. But something about this place seemed familiar. What was it? I shrugged off the thought and sat down by a tree, licking blood off of my knife.  
"I'll wait here until nighttime..." I said to myself, "Maybe I'll find some fresh blood by then..."  
I chuckled psychotically. But I couldn't help but wonder why this place seemed so familiar. I supposed I would find out soon enough, but for now, I had to wait until nighttime before I made my way out of these woods. After all, I was a wanted man, and I couldn't go out in broad daylight, could I?

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

After a few minutes I remembered the video that Abigail had told me to look up. I went on the website for our local news and saw that the breaking news was about Jeff. I quickly clicked on it and watched the video.  
"Jeffrey Woods, who has been wanted for four years, has still not been captured." the lady on the video said, "And, just last night, he has made another kill in a nearby town. But there's something different about this kill. Of course, this one is just as gruesome as the last, but this photo was taken by reporters."  
I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the image and paused the video. There, written in blood on the wall in the photo, were the words: "I'm CoMiNg BaCk FoR yOu, CoRaLiNe"  
I didn't need to see the rest of the video. He was coming. He was close, I could sense it. But where was he?  
"I can't take this..." I said to Cat, "I should just let him kill me and let him get it over with!"  
Cat shook his head.  
"No, you shouldn't." Cat said, "This isn't the Coraline I know. The Coraline I know is a brave, clever girl who never gives up. You're NOT going to give up like this. I won't allow it. Do it for Wybie. Do it for your mother. Do it for me."  
I looked over at Cat, and didn't even bother asking how he was talking.  
"B-but-" I was interrupted.  
"No buts!" Cat said, putting his paw on my leg, "Now you can fight back. I know you can."  
After a minute or two of staring at each other, I nodded.  
"Okay." I said, getting a brave look in my eye, "I'll try."  
Cat smiled a little.  
"That's the Coraline I know." Cat said. With that Cat trotted over to the end of my bed and laid down, falling asleep.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to me, the sun had set, and I was out of the woods. I nearly passed out when I saw where I was. I was at my old house. The place where I had moved just before I snapped. I didn't want to let myself, but I forced myself to go into the house. Everything was gone. It was empty.  
"Odd... No one moved in." I said. Then I chuckled.  
"I suppose I should've known I was here, but..." I paused, "It's still strange coming back here... I arrived sooner than I thought."  
Then an evil grin appeared on my face.  
"That means that little Coraline is nearby..." I said, "I think I'll pay her a little visit..."  
I felt a twinge in my stomach at the thought of Coraline, and I thought of the day of Billy's party. I remembered us chasing each other around, squirting each other with squirt guns. Then I remembered stabbing her in the shoulder, that pain on her face, that look of sadness and betrayal on her face. It was etched onto my brain. I shook my head.  
"NO." I yelled at myself, "Stop it... Don't think about that..."  
With that I left the house and began heading over to the Pink Palace Apartments. As I walked, I saw Cat standing nearby, wagging his tail back and forth and glaring at me.  
"Well, hello." I said, "What do you want?"  
"Lay one hand on her, and you'll regret it." Cat said, "She doesn't give up easily."  
I scoffed.  
"Mhm, sure, now get outta my way, I've gotta pay an old friend a visit..." I said. With that I walked past Cat and climbed into Coraline's open bedroom window.


	8. Meeting Again

Chapter 8: Meeting Again.

~Coraline's POV~

I laid on my bed, my back facing the window and my eyes tightly shut, although I wasn't asleep. How could I have slept? There was a killer after me. I heard the floor by my window creak, like someone had stepped on it, and I held my breath. He was here, I knew it.  
_"I will be brave... I will be brave... Be strong, Coraline... Stand up to him." _I thought. After a few seconds, when I had built up enough strength, I sat up and turned to face whoever was in my room with a sharp glare in my eyes to hide my fear. There he was. Jeffrey Woods, or as most people knew him now, Jeff the Killer, standing by my window. The moonlight streaming in through my open window shone behind him, making his face all the more terrifying.  
"Hello again, Coraline." Jeff said, twirling his bloodstained knife in his fingers.  
"W-what do you want?" I asked. I wanted to kick myself for stuttering. Jeff chuckled.  
"You're scared, Coraline, there's no way to hide it." Jeff said, "And what do I want? Oh, there's no need to be rude, Coraline, I just wanted to pay you a little... Visit... Hehehehe..."  
I didn't reply. I kept on repeating what Cat had told me in my head, but it didn't seem to help. What should I do?  
"Well, I'm guessing you're here to kill me?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising a brow. Jeff smirked. At least I think he was smirking, it was hard to tell with that smile carved on his face. But the skin had healed up a little, and his cheeks were closed again, but he still had pretty bad scars on his cheeks that gave him a terrifying smile. He walked over to me and put his finger on my shoulder where the stab wounds were, and now where the scars were. They were noticeable, since I was wearing a tank top. I looked at him and raised a brow.  
"What're you doing?" I asked.  
"Oh, nothing, just looking at your scars." Jeff said, his eyes going from my shoulder to my eyes. His hand felt leathery, like a glove. I looked back at him to show I wasn't afraid. Well, I was afraid, but I didn't want him to think that.  
"Yeah, the scars that YOU put there." I said. Jeff chuckled.  
"Indeed I did." Jeff said. Then I started feeling... Weird. Like I still felt like I used to about Jeff. But how could I? He was a killer now! I couldn't like him! Could I?  
"Something wrong?" Jeff asked, his lidless eyes staring into mine.  
"N-no." I said.  
"You're lying." Jeff said, leaning closer to my face and staring deeper into my eyes. He was seriously creeping me out and I wanted to move away, but I didn't. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him in any sort of way.  
"What makes you say that?" I asked.  
"I can tell when someone's lying." Jeff said, "Mommy lied, and I can see that look in your eye. You're lying. Now, tell me, what's wrong?"  
_"What should I say? I can't tell him that I still like him! How could I still like him?!" _I wondered, biting my lower lip.  
"Well?" Jeff asked, sitting down next to me and twirling his knife in his fingers.  
"Please stop doing that, it's making me feel uncomfortable..." I said, looking at the knife. Jeff smiled and stopped twirling the knife.  
"Okay." Jeff said, "Since you won't tell me what's wrong, I guess we could... Chat a little before you tell me."  
I was confused. What did he want with me? He HAD to have been toying with me, I knew he was going to try to kill me sooner or later.  
"Alright..." I said, raising a brow slightly.  
"Hm... You're just as pretty as I remember you..." Jeff said. I felt my cheeks get warm. He thought I was pretty?  
_"No! Don't listen to him, Coraline, he's just trying to trick you into something." _I told myself.  
"Thanks..." I said, biting my lower lip gently.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

What was this? Why was I acting like this? My plan had been to come here to torture and kill her, and yet here we were talking. She was onto me, I could tell. But I didn't want to hurt her... What was this feeling? No! I couldn't listen to my feelings. Part of me wanted to see her suffering, the other part of me... What was this feeling?! I had never felt it before. Or had I? It seemed oddly familiar. It wasn't love, was it? Was it a caring feeling? What was it? She was so beautiful... I could make her more beautiful... Yet I didn't want to hurt her.  
"No problem." I said, trying to hide that this was bothering me. That's when I decided: I'll let her fight back.  
"Tell ya what," I said, "I'll give you a chance to live. You get dressed and I'll go out in the woods for ten minutes. Then I'll come back, and if you aren't ready to fight... You're done for, my dear."  
With a chuckle I jumped out the window, swiftly landing on my feet and running into the woods.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

Although I was really confused, I rushed to get dressed. I put on my black hoodie over my tank top and put on my dark blue jeans. I missed the old Jeff. The happy, funny Jeff who was my best friend. Not this crazy killing-machine. But... I still cared about him in the same way I did before. I would fight back, I wouldn't let him kill me, but I couldn't kill him. I couldn't. Once I was dressed, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, since I figured it had might as well be a fair fight. I tightly clutched the knife.  
"Coraline?" Mom said, walking over to me, "Coraline, what're you doing?"  
I looked over at her, and figured I had might as well tell her what was going on.  
"I'm fighting Jeff." I said, "He's back."  
"Coraline!" Mom said, "Coraline, don't you dare-"  
"Mom, I have to!" I said, "If I don't fight back, he'll kill me, or worse! I can do this, Mom."  
"Don't you DARE FIGHT HIM." Mom shouted.  
"I don't have a CHOICE, MOM." I said, "And don't yell so loudly, he's in the woods, he can probably hear you!"  
Mom covered her mouth with both hands and shut her eyes.  
"Coraline... Please..." Mom said, "Please, just run, get out of here, get away from that... That... MONSTER."  
"He isn't a monster..." I said. Had I just said that? But it was true, I didn't think he was a monster at all. Mom's mouth dropped open.  
"Coraline, yes he is!" Mom said, "Now you get out of here for your own good!"  
"NO." I said, "I'm fighting him, Mom, you can't stop me."  
We stared at each other for a minute or two, and I guess Mom finally realized that there was no changing my mind. She sighed and nodded.  
"Okay." she said, although she sounded like she really wasn't okay with it at all. And I didn't blame her.  
"Mom, take the car and get out of here." I said, "I won't die, I'll be fine. I know how to fight."  
Mom looked like she was about to protest, but she sighed and walked over to the kitchen counter, grabbing her keys.  
"Coraline... I love you." Mom said, hugging me. I returned the hug.  
"I love you too, Mom." I said. Mom wiped a tear from her cheek and walked out the door hesitantly. I was glad that Mom cared about me so much, but I cared about her, too, and I didn't want her to get hurt. I sighed as I heard the car drive off. I looked at the clock. He would be here soon.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! So... I'm thinking about making this Jeff X Coraline... What do you guys think? Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. :3 ~Penny Mew.**


	9. I Can't Kill You

Chapter 9: I Can't Kill You.

~Coraline's POV~

"3... 2... 1..." I said as the clock ticked. As soon as I said "one", the door swung open.  
"Ready, CoRaLiNe?~" Jeff said in a sing-song voice, twirling his knife in his fingers. I quickly stood up off of the counter and pointed my knife at him.  
"Ready." I said. Jeff began to charge at me, but then slowed down to a stop.  
"Come to think of it..." Jeff said, tapping his chin gently with the tip of his knife, "We never finished our bet, did we?"  
I raised a brow. What the hell was he talking about?  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
"The day of Billy's party." Jeff said, taking a step closer to me, "We made a bet to see who won, best out of three, remember? To see who could hit each other the most with water?"  
That's when I remembered it.  
"Oh, yeah..." I said, biting my lower lip to keep myself from looking sad. I missed those days more than anything.  
"Tell ya what, Cora..." Jeff said. I felt another twinge of pain in my stomach.  
_**"Can I call you Cora?"**_I thought of Jeff's words when I first told him my name.  
"We'll see who can hit each other the most out of three tries." Jeff continued, "Whoever wins gets to kill the opponent. Deal?"  
Jeff held out his hand for me to shake, and I hesitated.  
_"Should I do this? Is there even any point?" _I wondered, _"No. I'm a fighter. I can do this. Be strong, Coraline, be strong..."  
_I shook his cold, leathery hand. Jeff smirked.  
"Good." Jeff said. He wasn't letting go of my hand when I tried to pull away.  
_"Sh**! How could I have fallen for this?!"_ I wondered as I kept trying to pull away. Before I could escape, Jeff held the handle of his knife in his mouth and rolled my sleeve up. Then he grabbed his knife as I still struggled to get free from his grip.  
"HEY! This isn't fair!" I said, still struggling. Jeff laughed psychotically.  
"Why isn't it fair?" Jeff asked. He put the blade of his knife on the top of my shoulder and made a long cut from my shoulder all the way to my hand. I winced and yelped in pain and Jeff let me go.  
"One point for me." Jeff said, licking my blood off of the knife. I glared at him sharply. I was angry now. I wasn't messing around. He was NOT going to beat me. HE WAS NOT. But I couldn't just attack him. No, I needed to be clever, just like with the Other Mother.  
**_"Be clever,_****_Miss!"_** I thought of the words of the little ghost girl.  
_"I will." _I thought.  
"Well? Are you going to make a move?" Jeff asked. I smirked.  
"Yup." I said. I took off running up the stairs, and I could hear Jeff's footsteps behind me. I tried not to think about him chasing me to try and find out what my name was, it would make me tear up, most likely.  
"You can't run from me, Coraline..." Jeff said. I glanced back and saw that he was ready to swing his knife at me, but I dodged it just in time.  
"AGH!" I yelled as I dodged it. Jeff laughed psychotically.  
"Lucky dodge." he said as I ran into my bedroom and locked the door. I could hear Jeff fiddling with the doorknob, trying to get in as I tried to find a good hiding place.  
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" I muttered over and over again as I tried to find somewhere to hide. Under my bed? No, too obvious. In my closet? No, I could easily get trapped. On the roof outside of my window? Perfect. He'd walk over to the window, and just as he was about to look out, I'd hit him with my knife. I saw that Jeff was close to opening the door, so I rushed out my window and stood beside it on the roof.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I finally got the door open and stepped in the room.  
"Alright, where're you hiding?" I asked as if she would respond. But I knew she wouldn't. After all, this was Coraline I was talking to, and I knew she wasn't dumb enough to answer. Hell, NO ONE would be dumb enough to answer. I checked under the bed. Nothing. I checked in the closet. Nothing.  
"Sh**..." I muttered, "Shoulda known she wasn't dumb enough to hide there..."  
Then a thought came to me. Could I really bring myself to kill her? I already had enough regret from killing Liu, and I didn't think I could handle the regret of killing Coraline. I shrugged away the thought, deciding it'd be best just to listen to my voices and just kill the damn girl. That's when I noticed that the window was slightly opened. Had she run off?  
"Oh, that little-" I stopped in mid-sentence. Coraline wouldn't have run away, would she? If she had, then that cat was wrong. No, she couldn't have run away. I walked over to the window, and as soon as I opened it completely, someone pounced on me and stabbed me in the shoulder. It was Coraline.  
"You little...!" I clenched my teeth in pain. I wasn't sure, but I saw a hint of regret in Coraline's eyes. Did she feel bad for hurting me? No, that couldn't have been it, it couldn't have. I kicked Coraline off of me and she fell onto her back, yelping in pain. I stood up, but she was too quick. She pounced on me again and stabbed me about an inch away from the first stab wound. I couldn't believe it. She had beaten me. We both stared into each other's eyes.  
"Well... Looks like you won, Cora." I said. She looked a bit surprised, and I was a bit surprised too. I could've easily killed her right then and just left, but I didn't.  
"Heh... Yeah..." Coraline said. To my surprise, she got off of me. I looked over at her.  
"Well? Aren't you going to kill me?" I asked, "That was our bet, remember?"  
She looked at me.  
"I would... But I can't." Coraline said, "You're still one of the best friends I've ever had, and I know that that part of you is still in there. I can't kill you..."  
I was shocked. She still cared about me? How could she care about me?! I was a killer!

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

How could I care about him?! He was a killer! But like I had mentioned before, that boy I knew, that boy who was my best friend, was still there. Jeff may have been a killer, but he was still Jeff, right?  
"You... Can't?" Jeff asked. I shook my head.  
"No." I said. To my surprise, Jeff sat up and hugged me tightly, just like he did when Liu got sent to JDC. He buried his face in my shoulder and started softly sobbing.  
"L-Liu's dead... B-because of me..." Jeff sobbed. I stroked his hair and comforted him just like I did four years ago.  
"It's okay... It's okay..." I said, trying to have the tone that Mom had when she was comforting me about Dad, "Y-you didn't know what you were doing. And Liu's in a better place now. You saved him from this world, right?"  
Jeff's sobbing slowly ceased after a few more seconds, and then he looked at me and nodded. Although his face was still frightening, I could see the Jeff I knew in his eyes. But I still cared about this Jeff, too. Everyone has two sides, right? A good side and a bad side.  
"Coraline?" Jeff said.  
"Yeah?" I asked.  
"I-I... I'm so sorry..." Jeff said, hugging me tighter. I kept hugging him.  
"It's okay..." I said, smiling softly. After a few minutes, we both fell asleep, still hugging each other, our knives lying on the floor across the room.


	10. We've Got To Get Outta Here!

Chapter 10: "We Have To Get Outta Here."

~Jeff's POV~

Police sirens. Loud banging on the door. Those were the sounds I awoke to. I glanced down at Coraline, who was still in my arms asleep.  
"F**k..." I muttered, "Coraline, wake up!"  
I shook her a little to wake her up.  
"Huh? What's going on?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 2:00 in the morning. We hadn't slept for long.  
"Jeff! We know you're in there!" a policeman said, knocking loudly at the front door, "Exit the house with your hands up!"  
Coraline gasped.  
"No..." she said, "No, no, no! Mom must've called the police..."  
We heard the front door break down, and Coraline gasped again.  
"You've gotta run! Get outta here through the window!" Coraline said.  
"No... Come with me." I said. Coraline blinked in surprise.  
"W-what?" she asked, "But-"  
"Please!" I begged, "I don't know my way around here, and besides, things get kinda lonely when your in the human realm as a wanted man."  
I hoped she didn't pay much attention to the last part of that sentence, but I had a feeling that she had.  
"Well... Okay." she said. I mentally sighed with relief.  
"Okay, c'mon, I have an idea." I said, "I'm gonna have to pretend I'm trying to kill you, okay?"  
"This had better not be some trick!" Coraline snapped. I rolled my eyes.  
"Do I look like I'm lying?" I asked. Coraline stared at me for a moment, then shook her head. The sound of heavy footsteps came pounding up the stairs.  
"Alright, c'mon!" I said, "We have to get outta here!"  
Coraline nodded and we both grabbed our knives and jumped out the window and onto the roof. I held my knife to her neck.  
"Anyone shoots and she's dead!" I yelled. Coraline pretended to be frightened. The cops aimed their guns at us.  
"Just let her go!" one of the policemen said. I pushed the knife a little deeper into Coraline's neck, just enough to make her bleed a little.  
"Put. Away. The guns." I demanded. The policemen hesitated, but put their guns away. I laughed psychotically, picked Coraline up, and ran off of the roof and into the backyard. I ran into the woods, Coraline in my arms.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

My neck hurt a little from where he had cut it slightly, but I guess he had to do what he had to do to make it convincing, right? As we ran through the woods, we finally came to a stop at a small clearing. Jeff sat me down and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.  
"That was f**king close..." Jeff muttered. I nodded in agreement, hugging my knees as I leaned against a tree.  
"We're in a dangerous part of the woods." Jeff warned me, "Stay right with me if you want to live."  
"Why are they dangerous?" I asked.  
"I guess you'll find out, won't you?" Jeff asked with a slight smile, sitting down next to me. I yawned. I was still tired, and yet I didn't feel like sleeping yet. Was I scared?  
"Dammit... Why did Mom have to go and call the damn police?" I wondered aloud. Jeff chuckled.  
"Well, she cares about you." Jeff said, twirling his knife in his fingers, "I guess she didn't want you hurt by me... She thinks I'm a monster."  
"Oh... You heard that, huh?" I asked. Jeff nodded.  
"Well, I don't think you're a monster." I said. Jeff looked at me and smiled a little.  
"Thanks, Cora." he said. I returned the smile.  
"No problem, Jeffie." I said in a joking tone.  
"Don't call me that..." he said, frowning and rolling his eyes. Well, I think he was frowning. It was hard to tell. I giggled, and his smile returned slowly.  
"Well, let's get some sleep while we still can." Jeff said, lying on the ground next to me. I laid down next to him.  
"Night..." I said with a yawn.  
"Night..." he said. After a minute or two, we both fell fast asleep. And for the first time in a while, I didn't have any nightmares.


	11. Jeff's House

Chapter 11: Jeff's House.

~Coraline's POV~

I woke up not knowing what time it was, but there was dew on the ground, so I figured it was still morning.  
"Morning, Cora." Jeff said. I just noticed that he was leaning against a tree, twirling his knife in his fingers. I winced. Even though I trusted Jeff now, that still made me uncomfortable.  
"Mornin'." I said, yawning and stretching, "Do you have a watch or anything to see what time it is?"  
Jeff shook his head.  
"Nope." he said with a smirk. I stretched again and stood up.  
"Well, where're we going now?" I asked.  
"To my house." Jeff said.  
"Your house?" I asked, "Where's that?"  
"It's not too far away." Jeff said, "Follow me."  
Jeff stood up and started walking out of the clearing and deeper into the woods, so I followed him, although the woods still gave me the creeps, even though it was daytime. As we walked, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a man standing away at a distance, but when I looked, no one was there. I shrugged it off and figured that I must have been seeing things. Finally, I saw a cabin up ahead.  
"Is that your house?" I asked.  
"Yup." Jeff said, "Oh, uh, I hope you don't mind the smell of blood, hehe..."  
I crinkled up my nose a little at the thought of the smell, remembering the night when Jeff went insane. I tossed away the thought.  
"I guess I can get used to it." I said. Jeff chuckled.  
"Well, unless you want to stay in the woods with Slenderman, I think you'll have to." Jeff said. I stopped and blinked in surprise.  
"Slenderman?" I asked with a gulp. I remembered playing that video game with Wybie once, and it scared both of us a lot, but I never figured that Slender was real.  
"Yup." Jeff said, "So just keep an eye out for him."  
He opened the door for me.  
"Ladies first." he said. I smiled a little and walked inside. To my surprise, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were a few bloodstains here and there, but mostly everything seemed fairly normal.  
"Cool house." I said, sitting down on the couch.  
"Hehe, thanks." Jeff said, sitting down next to me and turning on the TV.  
"Police are still on the lookout for Jeffrey Woods, who has recently kidnapped a 16-year-old girl named Coraline Jones." the man on the news said, "The girl has blue hair that comes just above her shoulders. She was last seen wearing-"  
Jeff turned off the TV before the man could continue.  
"F**kers..." he muttered, "Why can't they get that they can't catch me? Hehe..."  
I looked at him and smiled a little. I didn't admit it, but Jeff still scared me a little. I mean, after all, he WAS a psychotic killer, who wouldn't be at least a LITTLE scared of him?  
"So, uh... Any other dangerous things in these woods that I should know about?" I asked.  
"Ya mean besides Slendy-man?" Jeff asked, "Well, not really, unless one of his proxies is running around today."  
"Proxies?" I asked.  
"Yeah. I guess you could call them his minions." Jeff said, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed way. I shuddered.  
"Damn." I said.  
"Yeah." Jeff said, "But some of them aren't really too harmful."  
I nodded to show I understood.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I wondered how long we'd be staying here, and how long it would take me to get used to having someone else in my house. Someone who I wouldn't kill. I had no clue why I didn't want to kill her. Hell, if I had given in, I would've killed her in the most brutal way possible, but I couldn't do it. Was it the old Jeff talking to me, telling me not to kill her? I decided not to worry about it too much, then I might change my mind.  
"Hey, Jeff?" Coraline asked.  
"Yeah?" I asked.  
"If I do run into Slender... What should I do?" she asked. I was relieved that she didn't ask why I didn't kill her.  
"Just run, and don't look at him." I said. She nodded.  
"Okay." she said, then bit her lower lip, "Sorry if I'm asking to many questions, heh."  
I chuckled.  
"It's okay, I don't mind." I said, laying down on the couch with my head on her lap. She raised a brow.  
"Hey, what're you doing?" she asked, chuckling a little.  
"You're my pillow now." I joked. She laughed. I smiled. It had been a while since I had joked around, and it felt nice to do it again.  
"Hey, get off, JEFFIE." she said.  
"Hey, what'd I say about calling me that?" I asked, not budging.  
"I'll call you what I want to." Coraline said with a playful smirk. I rolled my eyes.  
"Well, how about this: If you call me Jeffie, I'll call you Caroline." I said. Coraline glared at me, but I could tell that she really wasn't mad.  
"Don't you dare..." she said.  
"Well, how about we fight?" I asked. She blinked in surprise.  
"Fight?" she asked.  
"Yeah." I said, "If I win, I get to call you Caroline, and if you win, you get to call me Jeffie, deal?"  
She thought for a moment, then spoke.  
"Deal." she said. We both got off of the couch and stood a few feet away from each other.  
"Ready, CAROLINE?" I asked. I could tell she was clearly getting annoyed with me calling her that, and I smirked.  
"Ready, JEFFIE." she said, smirking. I hated when people called me that, so I twitched a little, and she smirked wider. Then we pounced on each other.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

Jeff was stronger than me, of course, so he pinned me down and tried to punch me. I moved my head out of the way so he barely missed it, and I kicked him off of me. We stood up and I threw a punch at him, but he dodged it and ran behind me quickly, kicking the back of my legs.  
"GAH!" I exclaimed as I fell over onto my stomach. I rolled over onto my back and Jeff pinned me down again. I tried to get free from him, but he was too strong. Suddenly, he started leaning closer to my face.  
_"Huh? What's he doing?" _I wondered. Then his lips met mine, and I nearly passed out from shock.


	12. Author's Note

**Hey guys! **

**So, I made this chapter just as an author's note, heh. **

**The reason why is because... Well, I'm thinking about writing a totally different Coraline and Creepypasta story, that doesn't have any pairings or anything like that.**

**I don't normally do pairings, (much less with Creepypasta,) but I figured this would be pretty fun to try out.**

**Anyway~ I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far.**

**And, yeah, I know the pairing is a little odd, but I figured that Jeff and Coraline kinda had similar personalities and I thought it'd be cool to see them in the same universe.**

**I'm just thinking CrEaTiVeLy~ (hehe, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared reference...)**

**Haha, sorry, I'm kinda weird today. XD**

**Well, I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far, and I've gotta go work on another one for now. XD**

**Bai~**

**-Lela aka Penny.**


	13. What's In The Little Well?

Chapter 13: Where Does The Old Well Lead To?

~Coraline's POV~

I was still in shock after what had happened. Why had he kissed me? Did he like me more than a friend? We were still lying on the floor, with him on top of me, until we both decided to sit up.  
"Sorry if I made you feel awkward..." Jeff said, but I could tell he was smirking. I mentally rolled my eyes. Jeff could be annoying sometimes... But I couldn't help but like him.  
"It's fine." I said, trying not to let myself blush. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Jeff spoke up.  
"Hey, Cora?" he asked, sitting a little closer to me.  
"Yeah?" I asked, looking over at him.  
"There's something I want to tell you..." Jeff said, "You wanna know where I've been hiding out all these years?"  
"You mean you haven't been hiding out here?" I asked.  
"Are you kidding?" Jeff asked, "The cops woulda found me a long time ago if I'd hid out here. Oh, no, this place is a lot more secret. And you wanna know the funniest part about this?"  
I nodded, raising a brow. Jeff leaned closer to me.  
"I've been closer to you than you think." he said, "Because I've been hiding in the little well."  
I blinked in surprise. In the little well?  
"Wait... You're kidding, right?" I ask. Jeff shook his head.  
"Nope." he said, "You see, Cora, there's a whole other realm in that well. I'm not supposed to tell any mortals about it, but... You're different."  
"Another realm?" I asked, my eyes widening a little, "What's it like? What's it called? Who else lives there?"  
Jeff chuckled.  
"Still just as curious as ever, I see." he said, "That's one of the things I like about you. Anyway, it's normal to me, but I'm sure it would be considered creepy to mortals, hehe... And it's called the Creepypasta realm, and... Well, you'll see who else lives there."  
Jeff grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet as he stood up.  
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait." I said, raising my hands up a little, "You mean we're going there? Will the others try to kill me?"  
"Probably, but I won't let them succeed." Jeff said, lightly kissing me on the forehead, causing me to blush again. Normally, if a boy had done that, I would've punched the daylights out of them, but... Jeff was different. And, not to mention, I was still a tiny bit intimidated by him.  
"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Jeff asked, smirking and opening the door for me. I smiled lightly.  
"Sure." I said, trying to hide my excitement. Apparently I didn't do a very good job. Jeff chuckled.  
"Oh, Coraline, there's no point in hiding out excited you are." Jeff said, closing the door behind us, "You're just as adventurous as ever, and you love the idea of seeing the Creepypasta realm, don't you?"  
I grinned and looked at him.  
"Maybe." I said. Jeff returned the smile and the two of us walked through the woods, heading back toward the little well. We'd have to be sneaky, because we were both fairly sure that the cops would still be there.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

We continued walking through the woods, not talking much. We weren't nervous, we just needed to be quiet in case any cops were around. I couldn't help but worry about the other Pastas trying to hurt Coraline, but I wouldn't allow them to. I'd have to convince them that she wasn't like other mortals, that she was different.  
_"Ugh, who am I kidding?" _I thought, _"There's no way they'd believe me... Is there?"  
_"Jeff!" Coraline said in a loud whisper, quickly pulling me behind a tree.  
"What? What?" I whispered. She pointed at the Pink Palace, (which we could now see since we were at the edge of the woods,) and there were police surrounding it. Her mother was standing in the front yard hyperventilating. Coraline looked guilty. She must've felt bad for her mother. Although I couldn't quite see why, I put my hand on her shoulder sympathetically.  
"It's okay." I whispered in her ear, not wanting any cops to hear me. She nodded.  
"I just... I was the only one she had left." Coraline whispered, biting her lower lip and looking down. I sighed.  
"It's gonna be okay." I said. Coraline nodded.  
"Okay." Coraline said. I smiled at her.  
"C'mon, let's go to the well before they see us." I said, lightly tugging on her arm. She nodded and the two of us snuck over to the old well. When we arrived, Coraline gulped.  
"Somethin' wrong?" I asked.  
"Oh, nothing, just... Bad memories." Coraline said, smiling weakly. I wrapped my arm around her and held her close to me.  
"Let's get going." Coraline said with a smile. I returned the smile, and I opened the well.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

I stared down the well. It reminded me of when I was 11, when Wybie and I threw the Beldam's hand down the well. When Wybie realized I had been telling the truth.  
"Ready?" Jeff asked, grabbing my hand. I nodded, a confident look in my eye. Jeff was right, I was still just as adventurous as ever. I'd never change.  
"Then let's go." Jeff said. Before I knew it, the two of us had jumped down the well. I could feel the wind pushing against me as I fell. I couldn't help it. The adrenaline rush caused me to scream, and Jeff laughed.  
"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" he said. We continued falling into what seemed like just darkness. Suddenly, my feet hit the ground, and the impact caused me to fall over into the grass, my legs aching from the fall. Jeff looked over at me.  
"Welcome to the Creepypasta realm." he said, helping me onto my feet. I looked around. It seemed like an ordinary forest, but something was... Different about it. It made me feel disturbed, like something was watching me, and I'd never felt that way in the forest at home. Was I being watched?  
"Whoa..." I said, looking around from where I stood. Although it was disturbing, it was still interesting.  
"I'd better get you to the mansion before Zalgo finds out I brought a mortal here." Jeff said, looking around as if someone was supposed to be keeping an eye on us.  
"Zalgo?" I asked.  
"I'll explain later." Jeff said, "Now c'mon, let's go to the mansion."  
Jeff grabbed my hand and the two of us walked through the woods. After what seemed like an eternity of walking through the creepy forest, we arrived at a creepy yet beautiful mansion.  
"I'm guessing this is the Creepypasta Mansion?" I asked, although I knew it was for sure.  
"Yup." Jeff said, "Now you stay right with me, okay?"  
"Jeff, I'm not 5." I said, crossing my arms. Jeff chuckled and opened the door. A tall man wearing a black suit and tie, with completely white skin, and no face opened the door.  
"Jeffrey! Where have you been?!" the man asked, crossing his long arms. Then he looked over at me.  
"Who is this?" the man asked, "Another one of your victims?"  
"No, this is that girl I told you about." Jeff said.  
"You mean that girl from when you were a boy?" the man asked sternly, "Jeffrey, you know we are NOT allowed to have mortals here unless they've been brought here to be tortured or killed!"  
"She's different, Slendy." Jeff said, stepping in front of me in my defense, "Just give her a chance, okay?"  
"Don't call me Slendy." the man said sternly, "My name is Slenderman, and the name 'Slendy' makes me sound less intimidating. Now if she's going to stay here, the others will have to agree to her being here, too. As for me, I suppose I could give her a chance."  
Slenderman looked at me.  
"Just don't cause trouble." he said, tentacles emerging from his back. I assumed he was trying to be intimidating, and it worked. I gulped and nodded. Slender chuckled darkly.  
"Good." he said, "Now come inside. From what I can tell, child, you will be just fine here. After all, you defeated the Beldam, did you not?"  
I blinked in surprise. How did he know that?  
"How did you-" I was interrupted.  
"I know everything about you, Coraline Jones." Slender said as he, Jeff, and I walked inside. I shivered. Just how long had that guy been watching me? I glared at him.  
"You a stalker?" I asked, trying not to sound too much like a smart-alec. Slender chuckled.  
"Something like that, child." he said.  
"Who's this?" a boy a little bit shorter than me who wore a Link costume and had red eyes and blonde hair asked, smirking, "A new toy?"  
"No." Jeff said through clenched teeth, "She's a friend of mine."  
"Oh-ho-ho~ So your girlfriend is a mortal, eh?" the boy teased, "Although she is pretty, I'll admit."  
"Ugh, shut up, you Link reject..." I muttered in a barely audible whisper. I was pretty sure no one heard me.  
"Coraline, this is Ben. Ben Drowned." Slender said. I waved at him, and he smirked and waved at me. I didn't like the way he was looking at me, so I followed Jeff into the living room.  
"You bring a snack, Jeff?" a boy wearing a blue mask with black, hollowed out eyes with black goop dripping from them asked, smirking and chuckling darkly. Jeff rolled his eyes.  
"No, EJ, you can't have her kidneys." Jeff said. The boy, who I assumed was EJ, chuckled.  
"Then why'd you bring her here?" EJ asked.  
"Oh, shut up, EJ." a little girl with long brown hair, wearing a pink nightgown, and covered in blood said, "I think she's pretty cool! I like her hair. It's blue!"  
"Thank you, Captain Obvious..." Ben muttered, sitting down in front of the television and picking up a game controller. The little girl glared at him, then smiled at me.  
"I'm Sally!" she said, shaking my hand, "Are you Caroline? The girl who defeated the Beldam?"  
"Coraline." I corrected her, smiling at her, "And, yeah."  
"Cool!" Sally said, "Jeff talks about you a lot. Before he left a few days ago, he told us how much he missed you. Ben teased him about it and then Jeff punched Ben in the nose! Haha!"  
Jeff and EJ snickered while Ben scowled and rubbed his nose. I chuckled.  
"Is she gonna stay here, Slendy?" Sally asked as Slender walked in.  
"We'll have to wait until the others arrive, then we'll decide." Slender said, "Just don't tell Zalgo..."  
"Got it!" Sally said, and the others nodded, "I don't talk to Zalgo anyway."  
"Well, let's get to know you a little better, shall we?" Slender asked, "I know about you, but the others don't. So how old are you, Miss Coraline?"  
"16." I said.  
"Interesting. Any siblings?" Slender asked.  
"Nope." I said, putting my hands behind my head in a relaxed way.  
"I hear you lost your father in an unfortunate accident..." Slender said. I bit my lower lip and nodded.  
"Yeah..." I said, frowning at the memory of it. I remembered Mom's face when they called her and told her what had happened, and I remembered how she broke down crying for hours, and I did the same.  
"Hey, shut up, Slendy." Jeff snapped, "There's no point in bringing it up and making her feel worse."  
"Hey, CAROLINE, wanna play video games?" Ben asked, smirking. I knew he had intentionally said my name wrong.  
"It's CORALINE." I corrected, "And, sure, what games do you have?"  
"Pretty much every game ever made." Ben said. My eyes widened a little.  
"Whoa, really?" I asked, forgetting for a moment how much Ben annoyed me.  
"Yup." he said, "Which one do you wanna play?"  
"Hm... Well, my friend and I used to play Call of Duty a lot..." I said. Ben grinned.  
"Awesome, I love that game." he said, "How good are you at it?"  
I smirked.  
"Better than you, I bet." I said. Ben chuckled.  
"We'll see about that." Ben said, and he tossed me a controller. I caught it and sat down next to him as he put the game in. Jeff must've gotten a little jealous, because he sat down next to me.  
"Hand me a controller, Ben." Jeff said.  
"Ooo~ Jealous that I'm stealing your girlfriend?" Ben teased with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and Jeff glared at Ben.  
"Just hand me a controller, LINK." Jeff said, smirking. Ben glared at him.  
"Don't call me that." he said, handing Jeff a controller. Ben started the game, and the three of us started playing. As we played, I couldn't help but think about how Wybie and I used to play this, and that made me miss Wybie. I hoped he was alright.


	14. Is Coraline Safe?

Chapter 14: Is Coraline Safe?

~Coraline's POV~

"Hah! Beat ya, Caroline!" Ben teased. I glared at him.  
"Coraline." I corrected him, but I wasn't sure why I even bothered. He was just going to say my name wrong again anyway. But I couldn't help it. It annoyed me too much.  
"Ben, I'd stop that before she punches you in the mouth." Masky, (who I had been introduced to while playing CoD,) said. Ben rolled his eyes.  
"Psh, I'm not scared of her." Ben said. I scoffed.  
"Well, I suppose all of you know who Coraline Jones really is, and what she's done." Slender said.  
"Yeah, she defeated the mean spider lady!" Sally said with a cute smile. I smiled a little, and restrained myself from shivering at the thought of the Beldam. Jeff put his arm on my shoulder and nodded as if to tell me it was alright. He must've known I was scared at the thought.  
"Yes, but you also know what danger she is in." Slender said. My eyes widened a little.  
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa... Danger?" I asked, "What do you mean, "danger"?"  
"Well... You see, child, the Beldam is working for Zalgo." Slender said, "And since she failed in her mission to bring you to him, he's... Coming after you himself. With the help of some of his minions, of course."  
My mouth dropped open.  
"W-wait... So whose side are you on?" I asked, "M-mine or his?"  
"Well, some are on his side..." Slender said, "But us, on the other hand... Well, we aren't completely sure. We have been feeling like Zalgo has too much control, and we don't really want him as our leader, but we still aren't 100% sure quite yet. But since Jeff seems to care about you, and Jeff is one of our top Creepypastas, then... I suppose we could protect you. Just don't make us change our minds..."  
I gulped.  
"Y-yes sir." I said.  
"Well, I like her!" Sally said, hugging my leg.  
"I like her too." Ben said, "It's nice to have a little competition in video games for once."  
Ben looked over at Jeff with a smirk when he said that and Jeff glared at him.  
"Go to sleep..." Jeff muttered. Ben snickered.  
"I guess she's okay." EJ said, "She seems interesting."  
"Just keep her with you, Jeff, at ALL TIMES." Slender said. Jeff nodded.  
"I will." he said.  
"She'll sleep in your room with you until we can work something else out." Slender said, "Just don't be... Doing anything."  
"Trust me, we won't." Jeff said through clenched teeth. I think he was getting annoyed with all the rules. Ben snickered.  
"Hey, Coraline?" Sally asked.  
"Yeah?" I asked.  
"Can we play tea-party later?" she asked sweetly. I honestly didn't want to, but I couldn't turn her down. After all, she was just a little kid.  
"Sure, why not?" I said.  
"Yay!" Sally said. She hugged me and then ran over to the couch and sat next to EJ. I yawned. I had forgotten how tired I was.  
"Tired?" Jeff asked. I nodded, my eyes starting to shut.  
"Okay, c'mon, let's go." he said, leading me upstairs. I was honestly surprised. Despite being a killer, Jeff was surprisingly... Nice. I guess he was only nice to people he cared about. Jeff opened the door for me. His room was fairly normal looking. There were some bloodstains on the walls, but not too many, which surprised me a little. I guessed that Jeff didn't do much killing here. I laid down on his bed and he laid down next to me.  
"'Night." Jeff said, kissing me on the cheek. I felt my cheeks get warm, and I smiled a little.  
"'Night." I said. In a few seconds, I fell asleep.

* * *

~Wybie's POV~

I drove up to the Pink Palace as quickly as I could on my motorcycle. The place made me feel a bit nostalgic. It reminded me of when Coraline and I were kids, and we used to hunt for banana slugs.  
"Oh, Coraline..." I said. Now there was no telling whether she was alive or dead. She could've been tortured and killed. Hell, ANYTHING could've happened to her. She had gotten kidnapped by JEFF THE KILLER, and he was one of the most notorious killers on earth. I ran up to the door and knocked urgently. Coraline's mom, Mel, answered the door.  
"Oh, h-hello, Wybie." she said, "Thank you for coming."  
"It's no problem, Mrs. Jones." I said, walking inside when she opened the door for me, "Any news?"  
"None." Mel said. Her voice was choking up, and I put my arm around her.  
"Don't worry." I said, "They'll find her, and she'll be alright."  
But I didn't know that for sure. How could she possibly be alright? I felt my throat choking up. Coraline, the girl who was my best friend, who was always there for me, was gone. And I wasn't there for her.  
"T-thank you, Wybie." Mel said, "You know, Coraline talked about you a lot."  
"She did?" I asked.  
"All the time." Mel said, "She said you were the greatest friend she'd ever had."  
I smiled a little at the thought of her.  
_"They'll find her." _I thought, _"I know they will. They'll find her, and she'll be alright."_

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I woke up in the middle of the night with Coraline lying next to me, fast asleep. I smiled at her. I started to feel a bit worried that the other Creepypastas would try to take her to Zalgo. I knew right away that Jane probably would, but what about the others? There was no way of telling with them. Was Coraline safe here?  
"Hey, Jeff?" Coraline asked me, slowly waking up.  
"Yeah?" I asked in a whisper, looking over at her.  
"Everything okay?" she asked. I nodded.  
"Yeah, everything's fine." I said with a smile. She smiled back. Her eyes were barely open.  
"You should get some more sleep." I said. Coraline yawned.  
"I'm alright." she said. I smirked.  
"Coraline, I can tell you're tired, get some sleep." I said, holding her close to me. She smiled and didn't seem to mind, which surprised me a little, actually. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who wanted to be hugged a lot. Well, at least not by just anyone.  
"Okay." she said, laying her head on my shoulder. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds, and I felt myself starting to fall asleep, too. It was probably daytime in the human realm, which meant that Coraline's mom was probably freaking out. But I honestly couldn't care less. That b**ch never believed a word Coraline said about the Other Mother, and was always working. She never really cared about Coraline, from what I could tell.  
_"Let her regret not being there for her."_I thought, _"F***ing workaholic..."  
_After a few more seconds, I fell asleep, still holding Coraline close to me.


	15. Jane

Chapter 15: Jane.

~Coraline's POV~

When I woke up the next morning, Jeff wasn't there. I remembered that Jeff mentioned that when it's daytime in the Creepypasta realm, it's nighttime in the normal world. I wondered how Mom was. Was she okay?  
"I guess she's alright..." I said, stretching my arms and yawning, "But where's Jeff? I guess he's out killing..."  
The fact that Jeff was a killer didn't really bother me anymore, for some reason. I accepted him for how he was, because, even though he was a killer, he was still Jeffrey Woods, my best friend and... I guessed he was my boyfriend now. I couldn't be sure, though. Did I want a boyfriend? I yawned again and climbed out of bed. I saw some clothes on the bed and a note.  
"Huh?" I wondered aloud, looking at the clothes. They were a pair of black skinny jeans with a couple of holes in the knees of them and a gray hoodie. I read the note.

_**Dear Coraline,**_

_**I figured you'd need some new clothes, so I convinced Slendy to get you some. I'll be back later! -Jeff.**_

I smiled a little and put on the new clothes. After that I combed my hair and walked downstairs. Nobody was home, they must've ALL been out killing or going to scare people. I started to feel a little disturbed. This house was huge, and I was all alone in the Creepypasta realm, where I wasn't supposed to be in the first place.  
"Well, well, well, who's this?" a female voice said with a dark chuckle. I turned around and saw a girl with completely white skin, black hair, black eyes, black lipstick, and a black dress and shoes standing a few feet away.  
"W-who the hell are you?" I snapped, glaring at her and trying to show that I wasn't afraid. The girl chuckled.  
"You mean Jeffrey hasn't told you about me yet?" she asked.  
"I think I would've remembered." I said, crossing my arms.  
"Well, my name's Jane... The killer." the girl said, "And Jeff's my enemy. In fact, all of the Creepypastas in this mansion are my enemies. I still can't get over the fact that they let a MORTAL here..."  
I scoffed. I was getting tired of just being called a 'mortal'.  
"I've got a name, you know." I said.  
"I'd clear that smart-ass attitude, Missy." Jane said, pulling a knife out of her dress pocket, "Or there's gonna be trouble."  
My eyes widened slightly. I realized that I had no way to defend myself. I thought I was done for.  
"Hah! Like I'm scared of you." I said, and I mentally kicked myself. No wonder I was about to get killed.  
"Oh-ho-ho, that does it!" Jane said. She charged at me, and I started running. What other option did I have? I made it to the kitchen and grabbed a large kitchen knife, just as Jane ran in.  
"AGHHHH!" she yelled as she charged at me.  
"Gah!" I shouted, stabbing at Jane. She screamed in pain, and when I opened my eyes I saw that I had stabbed her in the shoulder.  
"You little b**ch!" Jane yelled, swinging her knife at me. I barely dodged it.  
_"Oh, God..." _I thought, _"What should I do?!"  
_Jane chuckled darkly, although I could tell she was in pain.  
"You think you can survive me, don't you?" Jane asked, "Well, if for some reason you do survive, Zalgo will come after you himself... Along with your Other Mother."  
I glared at her.  
"I'm not scared of him." I said through clenched teeth, trying to hide that I was lying. Who wouldn't be scared of Zalgo? Hell, I'd never even SEEN HIM, but that just made it more intimidating.  
"Oh you aren't, are you?" Jane asked with a smirk, "Well, then I suppose you wouldn't mind me going back and telling him that you're apparently not scared of him?"  
"Wait, don't!" I said without thinking. I mentally kicked myself. How could I have been so stupid?! Jane laughed.  
"So you were lying, eh?" Jane asked, taking a step closer to me. I took a step back.  
"Stay. Away. From. Me." I said, glaring at her sharply.  
"And how are you going to make me?" Jane asked, "Face it, Caroline, I'm taking you to Zalgo whether you want me to or not."  
"My name isn't CAROLINE..." I said, tightly clutching the knife in my hand and slowly walking toward Jane, "It's CORALINE."  
As I said it, I stabbed at her with my eyes tightly shut. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I had stabbed her in the chest. Her eyes were wide, and she was gasping, and suddenly she vanished into a cloud of red smoke. I coughed as I inhaled some of the smoke, and suddenly I felt light-headed, and I blacked out.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I had returned to the Creepypasta realm to check on Coraline. After all, she was there by herself for the first time. When I got back to the mansion, my eyes widened. I saw blood splattered in the kitchen, and... Jane's knife lying on the floor. But I wasn't worried that Coraline was dead, because there was a puddle of blood right beside where Jane's knife was lying. Had Coraline stabbed her? But where was Coraline?  
"Coraline!" I called out, "Coraline!"  
I ran all through the house, looking in every room. Coraline wasn't there.  
"N-no..." I said.  
"Jeffrey!" Slender called me, teleporting into the room, "Jeffrey, what are you doing?!"  
I looked at him.  
"I-it's Coraline..." I said, "Sh-she's gone..."  
I think if Slender had eyes, they would've gotten wide.  
"What?!" he asked, "What do you mean, she's gone?!"  
"Jane must've kidnapped her..." I said.  
"What? I thought she was surely stronger than that!" Slender said.  
"She is!" I snapped, "Zalgo must've helped..."  
Slender sighed.  
"Well-" I interrupted him.  
"No!" I said, "We are NOT GOING TO LET HER DIE!"  
I stabbed my knife into the counter.  
"I'm going to go save her..." I said, "If it's the last f***ing thing I do!"  
Before Slender could stop me, I had run out of the mansion, heading to the portal to Zalgo's realm, which was pretty far away. But I didn't care. I didn't f***ing care. I was going to save her. I was.


	16. Zalgo's Realm

Chapter 16: Zalgo's Realm.

~Coraline's POV~

"Oh, Coraline~?" Jane said in a taunting tone, "Time to wake up!"  
I groaned as I slowly woke up. Where was I? Last I had remembered, I was in the mansion. But I wasn't there now. I was lying on a cold, hard floor, in a room that looked like a prison cell. My wrists and ankles were tied up with heavy rope.  
"Wha-... Where am I?" I asked.  
"You're in Zalgo's realm." Jane said, walking over to me and smirking, "He really wants to meet you..."  
I sharply glared at her. I wasn't even scared of her anymore, or Zalgo, even.  
"Aww... What's wrong?" she asked in a humoring tone as if she was talking to a 5-year-old kid.  
"Oh, shut your face, jerk-wad..." I snapped. Jane chuckled.  
"You aren't scared, are you?" she asked, "Well, you f***ing should be."  
I rolled my eyes.  
"Can we just get this sh** over with?" I asked, crossing my arms and looking away.  
"Of course." Jane said with a chuckle. She untied me and grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the room. We walked down a dark, creepy corridor, with doors on each side. I could hear groaning and screaming coming from the rooms, and I shut my eyes tightly and tried not to focus on it. I thought about when Jeff and I first met, how he chased me to find out what my name was. I thought about how I comforted him when Liu got sent to JDC, when we went to Billy's birthday party... When he stabbed me in the shoulder twice... When I thought that he'd kill me, when I thought he didn't care about me anymore.  
_"I've gotta get outta here..." _I thought, biting my lower lip.  
"Coraline, open your eyes." Jane said, "We're almost there."  
She snapped me out of my thoughts, and when I opened my eyes I saw a huge door with blood staining it. I gulped.  
"Well, this looks inviting..." I said sarcastically.  
"Shut up." Jane snapped, opening the door and pulling me into the room.  
"Zalgo!" she said, "I brought her here."  
"Good..." a weird, slightly-distorted, deep voice said. A guy who looked like a red and black demon stepped out of the darkness. He was covered in several spikes, surrounded in a weird, red aura.  
"So... You're Coraline Jones?" he asked, hovering closer to me. I sighed.  
"Yeah, I guess I am..." I said, glaring at him and rolling my eyes. Zalgo chuckled.  
"Jeffrey's girlfriend?" he asked, "Odd... I thought Jeffrey could never care about anyone..."  
I glared at him.  
"Oh, shut up, you Bowser reject..." I snapped. He only chuckled again.  
"You're testing your luck, aren't you, Coraline?" Zalgo asked. I crossed my arms and raised a brow.  
"Well?" I asked, "What do you want with me? To turn me into some sort of weird demon-thing? To kill me? What?"  
"Well... Considering YOU defeated one of my best minions and nearly killed her..." Zalgo said, "I think I'll let her decide."  
My eyes widened as I saw the Beldam walk into the room, in her real form.  
"Hello, dear..." she said. My breathing quickened. Now that I wasn't scared of Jeff anymore, she was my only true fear now.  
"So we meet again..." she continued, standing a foot away from me.  
"Get away from me, you witch!" I yelled, backing up. The Beldam glared at me.  
"Now, that's NO WAY to talk to your mother!" she said, "And you've been a very unloving daughter lately! You know I love you, Coraline, why don't you... CoMe WiTh mE?"  
"You do NOT love me!" I snapped, "And you are NOT my mother! Stay the hell away from me!"  
"How dare you speak to-" the Beldam paused, then chuckled warmly, "Oh, Coraline, just as rebellious as ever, aren't you? Why don't you come back with me to the Other World? You'll be much happier there..."  
"NO." I said, glaring at her sharply. Zalgo chuckled.  
"Why don't you let me deal with her for now?" Zalgo said to the Beldam.  
"Hm... I suppose, my Lord." the Beldam said. She smiled at me and then walked away. I shuddered.  
"Now, Ms. Coraline, I hear you've been staying at the Pasta Mansion." Zalgo said, hovering slowly in a circle around me.  
"No..." I lied, "Well, kinda..."  
Zalgo looked at me.  
"Explain..." he said.  
"Well, I was out walking around outside, and I accidentally stepped on the door to the old well," I said, trying to sound as convincing as I could, "And when I did, I fell down it and into the Creepypasta realm. Then I found the mansion and snuck inside, no one was there, it was daytime."  
Zalgo crossed his arms.  
"Can you prove this?" he asked with a smirk.  
"Well, no..." I said.  
"And how do I know you're telling the truth?" Zalgo asked. I gulped. I should've thought of something better than that.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

"Jeff! Wait up!" I heard Ben calling after me. I ignored him and kept running to get to the portal. But, considering Ben was pretty fast, he caught up quickly.  
"I'm coming with you!" he said.  
"Why?" I asked, "Go home, Ben, this is my fight!"  
"Hey, I care about Caro- I mean, Coraline, too!" Ben said, "Well, not in the way you do... But still! Besides, I'm pretty helpful when I feel like it, and I feel like it."  
I sighed.  
"Fine." I said, "Just... Don't get in the way."  
I hoped I wasn't too late. I couldn't lose Coraline, I couldn't. My voices kept telling me to just let her die. She was just a mortal like the rest of them, after all. But I couldn't do it. I could keep Coraline safe, I cared about her, and the voices stopped telling me that.  
_"I'm coming, Cora." _I thought as if I could use telepathy to tell that to Coraline, _"Don't worry."  
_"I hope we're not too late..." Ben said.  
"Shut up, Ben..." I said through clenched teeth, "We aren't going to be too late. She's gonna be fine."  
"How do you know that?" Ben asked, "Most likely she's getting tortured and-"  
"I SAID SHUT UP!" I yelled, and Ben shut up. It took every ounce of strength in my body to prevent myself from stabbing him. Finally, we arrived at the portal.  
"Okay..." I said, catching my breath, "Let's go..."  
Ben nodded, and the two of us jumped into the portal. I couldn't help but wonder why Ben was coming along. Did he regret teasing Coraline so much? No, he couldn't have, could he? Maybe he was getting attached to Coraline. Yeah, that was it. We landed in the middle of a dark corridor, and as soon as my feet hit the ground, I took off running down the corridor with Ben close behind me.  
"I'm coming, Coraline..." I whispered, "I'm coming..."  
We arrived at the huge door at the end of the hallway, and I practically kicked it down. Coraline was standing in the room, glaring at Zalgo, when she turned to me. Her face lit up.  
"Jeff!" she said. I tried to run over to her, but someone sharply kicked the back of my legs. It was Jane. As I fell over, she put her foot on my back.  
"Good to see you again, Jeffrey." Jane said. I grabbed her leg and pulled her down and she yelped in pain. I got up quickly and rushed over to Coraline. I wrapped my left arm around her and held her tightly, close to me. I pulled out my knife with my other hand and pointed it in Jane's direction.  
"Stay the f*** away." I said through clenched teeth.  
"So glad you arrived, Jeffrey." Zalgo said, "After all, your execution is today."  
I was about to gasp, but I didn't let myself.  
"Execution?" I asked.  
"Of course..." Zalgo said, "You brought a mortal into the Creepypasta realm, and that is a very, VERY serious crime..."  
Zalgo chuckled darkly.  
"Or... I could spare you..." Zalgo said, "If you kill her."  
Zalgo pointed at Coraline, and my eyes widened, if that was possible. Coraline quietly gasped.  
"No..." I said, "No, I'll NEVER kill Coraline, NEVER. Go ahead and f***ing kill me... Just let her go..."  
"NO." Coraline said, "No, Jeff, don't!"  
Coraline looked at Zalgo.  
"If you kill him, I swear I'll... I'll..." she said.  
"You'll what?" Zalgo asked, "You're nothing more than a pathetic mortal, while I am a demon."  
"I DON'T CARE!" Coraline yelled, "DON'T KILL HIM!"  
"Coraline-" I was interrupted by red smoke filling the room, and after a few seconds of feeling dizzy, I fainted, with Coraline still in my arms.

* * *

**A/N: DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNNNNNN! :D Well, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Please review! :3 **


	17. Mind Games

Chapter 17: Mind Games.

~Coraline's POV~

I woke up in the same prison cell I had been in, earlier.  
"Oh, so you're awake." a familiar voice said. Once my vision cleared up, I saw Ben sitting across the room, tied up as well.  
"Where's Jeff?" I asked, worried.  
"He's in another prison cell..." Ben said, "They put us in these things after we blacked out."  
I rolled my eyes.  
"No sh**, Sherlock..." I said. Ben laughed lightly.  
"Well... Unless the others come to get us, I think we're done for..." Ben said, still smirking. I glared at him.  
"Then why're you smirking?!" I asked. He was only about a foot away from me, so he moved closer to me.  
"Because I know the others are coming to get us." he whispered.  
"Personal space..." I said, leaning away a little.  
"Hey, I couldn't just blurt it out so that Jane could hear, now could I?" Ben asked.  
"True..." I said, crossing my arms. My arms were free, but my legs were chained up, as were Ben's.  
"Will Jeff be alright?" I asked. Ben scoffed.  
"You kiddin'?" Ben asked, "Of course he will, he's Jeff the Killer."  
I smiled a little bit for a quick second, and then my smile faded away.  
"I guess you're right, Ben." I said. Ben grinned.  
"Hah! You didn't call me Link for once, Coraline." Ben said. I smirked.  
"And you didn't call me Caroline." I said, "I think we're starting to get along..."  
I playfully shuddered and Ben smirked. Although I was assured that everything would be alright, I couldn't help but feel worried. What was happening to Jeff? Was he alright?

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

"So... You're Coraline's boyfriend, huh?" a female voice said as I woke up. When my vision cleared, I saw the Beldam. She looked like a mix of a spider, skeleton, and button-eyed doll. I shuddered and glared at her, then giggled psychotically.  
"And you must be the Other Mother..." I said, "Funny, I expected you to be a bit more motherly looking..."  
"What makes you think I don't?" the Beldam said in a stern voice.  
"Well, I don't think most motherly people look like they came out of a horror movie." I said with a chuckle. The Beldam sharply glared at me, and then Zalgo appeared in the room.  
"I'm ready, my Lord." the Beldam said. Zalgo smiled darkly.  
"Good." he said.  
"Oh, f***, not agai-" I was cut off by the smoke filling the room, and I blacked out again. When I woke up, I was... In my old home?  
"What the...?" I wondered aloud. I sat up, and I was in my bed from when I lived next door to Coraline when we were kids. My room looked exactly like it did before: Band posters on the wall, my guitar on its stand across the room, the dark blue walls, my TV and X-box, everything. I stood up and walked over to the door and walked out.  
"What the f*** is going on?" I wondered aloud as I walked down the hallway and down the stairs. I could hear my mother humming in the kitchen.  
"Mommy?" I whispered to myself. I walked into the kitchen, and there was my mom, standing in the kitchen by the stove. She turned to face me, and to my shock, she had black button eyes.  
"Hello, dear!" she said.  
"You! Y-you aren't my mom!" I said, "You're that... Beldam!"  
I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as I said that, because she really did look like my mom... Well, minus the button eyes.  
"Oh, don't be silly, Jeff!" Mom said, "Now go on and play outside with your brother."  
"Play?" I asked, "Seriously? I'm 17, I don't-"  
"Go on!" she said, gently shoving me toward the door, "He's waiting for you!"  
I hesitantly walked toward the door, and as I walked past a picture of me, Mom, Dad, and Liu, I saw my reflection in the glass. I gasped. I just then realized that I was... Blinking. My eyelids were back, and I looked like I did before the accident.  
_"Wait... I'm... 13 again?" _I wondered. I walked outside, still in shock, and sure enough, there was Liu in the front yard. Of course, he had button eyes.  
"Hey, Jeff!" he said, "Sup? Where've you been, dude?!"  
"Uh..." I didn't know what to say. What could I have said?  
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter." Other Liu said, "Wanna go ride bikes?"  
"We have bikes?" I asked. I remembered always begging my mom if I could have a bike, but I never got one of my own.  
"Yeah!" Other Liu said, "C'mon, let's go!"  
This was weird... VERY weird. I followed the Other Liu over to the shed, and sure enough, there were two bikes in it.  
"Whoa..." I said. I couldn't help but say it.  
"Awesome, huh?" Other Liu asked, "Now let's go ride."  
We each got on our bikes and rode off onto the dirt path. As we passed the Pink Palace, it looked... Abandoned.  
"What happened here?" I asked.  
"That old place?" Other Liu asked, "Psh, who cares about it?"  
"I do..." I whispered to myself, but no one heard it but me. After riding a little further down the road, we turned back and headed toward home. It was fun feeling like a kid again, and riding a bike.  
"Bet I can beat ya home!" Other Liu said. I grinned.  
"We'll see about that!" I said. The two of us laughed and raced home, and I felt a twinge of pain in my stomach. I remembered how much I missed Liu, and now here he was!  
_"Wait... NO!" _I thought, _"She's doing this on purpose! She's trying to lure me into her trap... Well, I'm not falling for it!"  
_"Dinner's ready!" the Other Mother called from inside. Hearing Mom's voice again made me feel guilty, and when we walked inside, the Other Father was there.  
"Hey, guys!" he said.  
"Hey, Dad!" Other Liu said with a grin. I merely waved at him.  
"What's wrong, Jeff?" the Other Father asked, "Cat got your tongue?"  
"Uh... No, I'm fine, just a little tired..." I said. I wouldn't let myself fall for this. I wouldn't. We all sat down at the dinner table, and, although I was pretty hungry, I wouldn't let myself eat anything.  
"Not hungry, Jeff?" the Other Mother asked.  
"No." I lied.  
"Are you sure?" the Other Mother asked, sounding a bit worried, although I knew she was faking it. I tightly shut my eyes, then slammed my fist onto the table.  
"You are NOT MY REAL FAMILY!" I yelled in rage, "STOP THESE STUPID MIND GAMES!"  
"Oh, but these aren't mind games, Jeff..." the Other Mother said. Then her form changed into my mother after I had killed her: Bloody and slightly torn open. The same thing happened to the Other Father and the Other Liu. My breathing quickened.  
"Jeff... Why did you kill me?" the Other Mother asked. This was what they were doing. They wanted to make me suffer from my guilt.  
"Why, Jeff?" the Other Liu asked, "I thought we were buddies..."  
The Other Father nodded in agreement. I stood up and started backing away.  
"GAHHH!" I yelled in pain as I felt myself burning again, but it went away after a few seconds. My skin became white again, and I lost control of my hands as I grabbed a knife off of the kitchen table. I carved the smile onto my face again and screamed in pain, having no control over it. My eyelids burnt off, and by this time I was on the ground in pain. I had forgotten how much it had hurt.  
"Why, Jeff, why?!" the Other Mother asked, her eyes tearing up.  
"M-Mommy, I..." I stopped myself before I continued with my apology, "No... No, you AREN'T MY MOTHER! YOU AREN'T MY FATHER! AND YOU SURE AS HELL AREN'T MY BROTHER! You're just a bunch of f***ing robots! LET. ME. OUT OF HERE!"  
Suddenly, the whole world seemed to unravel like a spider web. The Other Father and Other Liu turned into giant rag-dolls, and sand poured out of their mouths. The Other Mother took on her true form.  
"Hm..." she said, "You're stronger than I thought... Jeffrey."

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

"What're they doing to Jeff?!" I asked Jane for the millionth time, "TELL ME!"  
"Sorry, sweetie, I'm not allowed to." Jane said with a smirk, "And who cares, anyway? He's just a f***ing monster, anyway."  
"He is NOT A MONSTER." I said, slamming my fist on the door as I talked to Jane through the window.  
"Oh, really?" Jane asked, "Well, after he killed his parents and stabbed you in the shoulder, he came over to my house... Remember my name, Coraline? Jane Arkensaw?"  
I gasped. I remembered her! She used to live nearby, and she would hang out with me every now and then at school when we were kids.  
"And wanna know what he did?" Jane asked, "He killed my family right before my very f***ing eyes... And then he burned me... And now I'm making him suffer in return for it."  
"H-he didn't know what he was doing!" I shouted.  
"Don't try to make excuses for it!" Jane shouted back. With that, Jane walked off. I didn't care what Jeff had done to her. He didn't deserve this. Not at all.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

I woke up in the prison cell I had been in before. I was back to normal, and in no pain.  
"Impressive, Jeffrey." Zalgo said, standing across the room, "But there's still more things to come."  
"What?" I asked.  
"Oh, nothing, except..." Zalgo chuckled darkly, "Torturing and killing your little friend, Coraline, right before your very eyes."  
My heart skipped a few beats.  
"No... N-no..." I said, "Don't you F***ING DO IT!"  
I charged at him with my knife, but he easily hovered out of the way.  
"There's no stopping it, Jeffrey." Zalgo said with a dark laugh, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be getting everything ready for your little friend."  
Just after Zalgo vanished, something wrapped around my waist. I was about to say, "Who the f*** is there?!" but something else covered my mouth. I looked to the side and saw Slender standing in the room.  
"Ssh!" he said in a low voice, "We're getting you out of here..."


	18. Escape And Old Friends

Chapter 18: Escape And Old Friends.

~Jeff's POV~

I would've thanked Slender, but I decided to wait until AFTER he got us out of here. He teleported me into Coraline and Ben's prison cell, where Coraline was sitting in the corner, hugging her knees, and Ben was tossing a pebble around. Coraline's eyes widened when she saw me.  
"JE-" she was cut off by Slender covering her mouth with one of his tentacles. He put a finger to where his mouth would be if he had one as if to shush her. She nodded. Ben already got the hint.  
"HEY!" Jane said, looking in the window, "ZAL-"  
Something hit Jane on the head, and I heard Sally giggling. Slender teleported the four of us out of the room and into the corridor, where Sally, Masky, Hoodie, EJ, and LJ were.  
"Who hit Jane?" I asked out of curiosity. Everyone pointed at Sally, and she smiled cutely.  
"I brought a baseball bat!" she said, innocently. Coraline chuckled.  
"Enough with the chit-chat, let's get the hell outta here!" Ben said. Just as we heard Zalgo roaring after us, Slender teleported us out of Zalgo's realm and into the mansion.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

That had gone much easier than I had expected, but I didn't care. I tightly hugged Jeff, and he returned the embrace, stroking my hair. I couldn't help but wonder who that clown was. I hadn't met him before.  
"Oh, uh, Coraline, this is Laughing Jack." EJ introduced him. LJ chuckled psychotically.  
"Hello!" he said.  
"Hello." I said, not letting go of Jeff.  
"We need to get Coraline to safety..." Slender said, "She can't stay here any longer..."  
"But if I go back to the human realm, I won't be able to see Jeff..." I said, hugging Jeff tighter. Slender sighed.  
"It might be for the best..." Slender said.  
"NO." I said, "Don't say that! I'm not leaving..."  
Slender sighed again.  
"Well, unless we can somehow close the portal to Zalgo's realm, then I don't think you have much of a choice." Slender said. I glared at him.  
"Well, we'll find a way to." Ben said. Slender looked at Ben.  
"Hey, her and I have just started getting along with each other, don't ruin it." Ben said, crossing his arms.  
"Oh... Oh, alright." Slender said, "But if we can't find a way, she's going back."  
"Oh, come on, Slendy, I just met her!" LJ said. I couldn't help but smile a little at how they wanted me to stay.  
"I said she could stay if we blocked the portal!" Slender said, facepalming. I giggled, and Jeff chuckled.  
"We'll find a way to block it, Slendy, calm down." Jeff said with a light laugh. Slender groaned.  
"I'll try..." he said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed..."  
Slender teleported upstairs.

* * *

~Wybie's POV~

"So, you're Coraline's friend?" I asked Abigail. She nodded.  
"Yeah..." she said, "I still can't believe she got kidnapped..."  
"Well, we'll find her!" I snapped. I wasn't happy anymore, hardly ever. I was angry. No, I was FURIOUS. Abigail jumped a little.  
"Where would she be?" she asked.  
"Well... The cops said they saw some footprints that ended at the old well..." I said, "Wait... Could they have gone down the well?"  
"Down the well?!" Abigail asked, shocked, "Why would they do that?"  
"Well... Hold on, lemme try something." I said. I dropped a rock the size of my fist down the well, and listened. After several seconds, I heard it hit what sounded like... Ground. Normally I wouldn't have been able to hear it, but since everything was so quiet, I would've heard a pin drop.  
"There's ground down there..." I said.  
"What?" Abigail asked.  
"Trust me!" I said. I grabbed her hand, and, before she could protest, the two of us jumped down the well.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

Coraline and I were walking through the woods, each of us holding a knife. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep us safe.  
"How should we close the portal?" Coraline asked, breaking the silence. I shrugged.  
"I don't know... No one's ever tried to before." I said, "I don't think Slendy even WANTS us to try..."  
"Who cares?" Coraline asked with a light chuckle. I chuckled.  
"True." I said, "I'm not letting him take you away from me."  
I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her cheek, causing her to blush a little. I could tell she wasn't used to that, but she'd get used to it eventually.  
"Coraline?!" an unfamiliar pair of voices said. Coraline looked ahead and her eyes widened.  
"WYBIE?!" she said, "ABIGAIL?!"  
I looked ahead and saw a boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a black coat and black jeans, and a girl with long red hair in a ponytail, wearing a blue jean jacket and a pink skirt.  
"CORALINE!" Abigail said, rushing over to Coraline and hugging her. Coraline returned the hug. But Wybie didn't seem as enthusiastic. Instead, he merely stared in horror at me.  
"W-who the HELL ARE YOU?!" Wybie yelled, "GET AWAY FROM CORALINE!"  
"Wybie, calm down!" Coraline said, "He won't hurt me!"  
"How do you know?!" Wybie asked, "He's a f***ing freak!"  
I sharply glared at him.  
"Oh, I am, am I?" I asked, twirling my knife in my fingers, "No, I'm the man who could easily take your life, so I'd suggest you keep your mouth shut."  
It took us a few minutes, but we explained what happened.  
"Wait... So you... LET HIM KIDNAP YOU?" Wybie asked.  
"NO, you idiot, I didn't KIDNAP her, she WANTED to come with me, don't you listen?" I snapped. Wybie glared at me.  
"Coraline... Your mom is so worried..." Abigail said, "Shouldn't you come home?"

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

I shook my head.  
"No, I..." I paused and glanced at Wybie. I remembered how he had a crush on me when we were kids. Did he still feel the same way? I only liked him as a friend... But I didn't want to break his heart by telling him that I was in love with someone else, let alone in love with a KILLER. But, then again, I was still pretty pissed at Wybie for saying that to Jeff...  
"I have to stay here with Jeff." I continued, looking back at Abigail.  
"Why?" Wybie asked, sounding irritated. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me over to him roughly, causing me to yelp in pain.  
"HEY!" Jeff shouted.  
"Coraline, you're coming home! NOW!" Wybie yelled. I winced at hearing him yell. What had happened to Wybie? He was never this angry... Never.  
"No I'm not!" I said, pulling my wrist away, "I've got to stay here, Wybie, you don't get it!"  
"What do I not get?!" Wybie yelled, grabbing me by the front of my shirt and lifting me into the air. I kicked and moved around.  
"Put. Her. DOWN." Jeff said, tightly clutching his knife.  
"NO." Wybie yelled, "I DIDN'T COME ALL THE WAY HERE JUST TO LET HER STAY WITH A MONSTER LIKE YOU!"  
Wybie harshly threw me to the ground, and when he did, my head slammed against a tree, and I screamed in pain. I heard shouting and screaming, and I slowly blacked out.

* * *

~Abigail's POV~

"So, you're Coraline's friend, huh?" the boy who told me his name was Ben Drowned said, smirking at me. I squirmed uncomfortably.  
"M-mhm..." I said. I was shy around new people. Ben chuckled.  
"No need to be shy, if you're a friend of Coraline, we won't hurt you." Ben said. I nodded. Wybie was sitting across the room, not looking at anyone. Did he regret hurting Coraline? Ever since I first met him a few weeks ago, he was a TOTAL jerk! Why did Coraline like him? Was he always like that?  
"I still can't believe Wybie did that..." I said.  
"Yeah..." Ben said, moving a little closer to me, "He's lucky that Jeff didn't gut him for doing that, haha."  
I gulped. I knew that these people were Coraline's friends, but could we trust them?


	19. Looking Like A Pasta

Chapter 19: Looking Like A Pasta.

~Jeff's POV~

"Jeffrey, for the last time, pay attention!" Slender yelled at me, "I know your annoyed with that boy, but this is important!"  
"How can I NOT think about it?!" I asked, slamming my fist on the table of the meeting room, "He hurt Coraline!"  
"I'm aware of that." Slender said, crossing his arms, "But we can worry about that later. For now we need to close the portal to prevent her from getting KILLED."  
I sighed. He was right.  
"Okay..." I said, "I'll focus... But after this is over, that son of a b**ch is dead..."  
Slender sighed.  
"Alright." he said, "But I don't know if Coraline would approve of that... Anyway, there's no possible way to CLOSE the portal, but there is a way to BLOCK the portal..."  
"Yeah..." I said, "So how do we do that?"  
"That's what we're trying to figure out..." Slender said, pacing back and forth slowly, deep in thought.  
"Well... Has it EVER been blocked before?" I asked. Slender shook his head.  
"No." he said, and continued pacing. I kept thinking, but what could possible block the portal? Well, something that could PERMANENTLY block it... I groaned. I normally didn't think this much, unless it was about how to sneak into someone's house and how brutally I should kill them. This was all new to me.  
"Ugh... I think I'll go check on Coraline..." I said, leaving the room before Slender could protest. I walked up to my bedroom, where Coraline was lying in bed, reading a horror book. I smiled at her and sat down on the bed.  
"Hey." I said, "Are you feeling any better?"  
She nodded.  
"My head still hurts a little, but it's nothing I can't handle." she said with a light laugh. My smile slowly changed into a frown.  
"Why the hell did that guy do that to you?" I asked, clenching my fist, not mad at Coraline, but mad at Wybie. Coraline frowned and shook her head.  
"I don't know..." she said, "I think he's just... Angry that I want to stay... See, when we were kids, he-"  
She was interrupted by knocking on the door.  
"It's open!" I said, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. Abigail walked in and shyly waved.  
"Hey." she said, walking in, "Are you alright, Coraline?"  
"Yeah, I'm feeling better." Coraline said, "Where's Wybie at?"  
"In the living room pouting..." Abigail said, "He's probably jealous."  
"Of what?" I asked. Did Wybie have a crush on Coraline? Probably.  
"Oh, uh... I'll let Coraline explain..." Abigail said, "I've gotta go now, Masky and Hoodie wanted me to have cheesecake with them."  
Abigail smiled sweetly and walked out of the room. Coraline chuckled.  
"Looks like she's adjusting to being here." she said. I smiled a little, then frowned.  
"Coraline, what did she mean by 'jealous'?" I asked. Coraline bit her lower lip.  
"Oh, uh... Well, like I was saying, when Wybie and I were kids, we were best friends." she explained, "But... I think he liked me more than a friend... But I didn't know he still did. I thought he would've had a girlfriend by now."  
_"That creep has a crush on Coraline? I f***ing knew it..." _I thought, _"But he'd better not try and take her from me... And he'd better not be dumb enough to pick a fight with_ me."  
"Hey, Jeff?" Coraline asked.  
"Yeah?" I said, snapped out of my thoughts.  
"Can we go for a walk?" she asked, "I'm getting bored of just lying here..."  
I chuckled. She sure did get bored easily.  
"Sure." I said, helping her out of bed, although she really didn't need help, "C'mon, let's go."  
She smiled, and the two of us walked out of the room.  
"We probably shouldn't make too much noise." I whispered to her, "Slendy might not want us to leave."  
Coraline nodded.  
"Got it." she whispered. We snuck downstairs. EJ and Ben were playing video games, Sally and LJ were eating candy, Masky, Hoodie, and Abigail were in the kitchen eating cheesecake, and Wybie was sitting on the couch, staring at the floor. It took every ounce of strength in my body to keep myself from tackling him and stabbing him over and over again until he was dead. Quickly but quietly we got to the front door and walked out.  
"You're still pretty mad at Wybie, huh?" Coraline asked.  
"And you aren't?" I asked, "He hurt you, why wouldn't you be pissed off?"  
"I didn't say I wasn't..." Coraline said, "I just... *sigh* I don't know..."  
I smirked and playfully sighed.  
"Oh, girls are so complicated..." I said in a playfully dramatic tone. Coraline grinned and playfully punched me in the shoulder.  
"Oh, shut up, jerk-wad." she joked. I chuckled, and Coraline giggled. We were silent for a moment as we continued walking. Then I looked at Coraline and stopped. She stopped as well and turned to me, raising a brow.  
"Something wrong?" she asked. I smiled and shook my head.  
"No, nothing's wrong." I said. I leaned closer to her and kissed her on the lips. It must've surprised her, but after a moment she kissed back.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

_"Am I doing this right?" _I wondered as Jeff and I kissed each other, _"I've never kissed anyone before! Well, Jeff and I kissed before, but... Not for this long..."  
_After a moment we broke apart, and Jeff smiled at me.  
"I love you, Coraline Jones..." he said. I felt my cheeks get warm.  
"I love you too, Jeff Woods." I said with a smile. Jeff chuckled and hugged me, and I grinned and returned the embrace. Then I gasped as I saw something on a tree.  
"Hey! Look!" I said, rushing over to the tree. Jeff followed me.  
"What is it?" he asked. I pointed at the small creature.  
"It's a banana slug!" I said, "I used to hunt for these ALL the time with Wy-"  
Just as I grabbed the banana slug off the tree, I stopped talking before I said "Wybie". I didn't want to make Jeff feel bad.  
"All the time!" I said, smiling as convincingly as I could. Jeff raised a brow.  
"Coraline, you don't have to not mention Wybie." he said, "I don't mind. I mean, you guys were best friends as kids, you have a right to talk about him."  
I smiled a little.  
"Thanks." I said, "Anyway, Wybie and I used to hunt for these with Cat."  
Suddenly, I heard dark chuckling nearby. It sounded raspy and creepy.  
"New friend, Jeffrey?" the voice said. Jeff and I turned around and saw a terrifying creature standing a few feet away. It looked almost like a human, except really skinny and pale, covered in blood. But the most terrifying thing about it were its fingers. It had long blades on each hand for fingers.  
"What do you want, Rake?" Jeff snapped.  
"Oh, nothing much..." Rake said, crawling closer to us, "I just thought I'd stop by... You know, I think I'll give you two some advice."  
"About what?" I asked, raising a brow. Rake chuckled.  
"You're a mortal, of course," Rake said, "And you're here, in the Creepypasta realm. Maybe if you look more like a Creepypasta, you won't have such a high risk for getting killed."  
I chuckled.  
"So, you're a fashion expert?" I asked, crossing my arms.  
"No, I'm just saying..." Rake said with a light chuckle, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to pay some human campers a visit... Hehe..."  
With that, Rake ran off.  
"Damn... What IS he?" I asked.  
"He's the Rake." Jeff said, "How he was created or what he used to be, I don't know. But I do know you don't want to run into him by yourself, so stay close to me or another Creepypasta, got it?"  
I nodded. I wasn't planning on going anywhere alone, anyway.  
"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Jeff asked with a smile.  
"Sure." I said with a grin. Then Jeff and I walked back to the mansion.  
"Should I really look more like a Creepypasta?" I asked. Jeff shrugged.  
"It wouldn't be a bad idea." Jeff said, "Maybe Sally can help you."  
"Hm... Okay." I said, "I'll ask her."  
"JEFFREY!" Slender's voice broke the silence in the house, and everyone jumped. I heard Abigail squeak a little in shock.  
"Jeffrey, what did I say about leaving the mansion?!" Slender said, teleporting a few feet in front of us.  
"Hey!" I said, "Don't get mad at him, it was MY idea to leave, not his! Besides, we didn't go near the portal!"  
"Coraline, child, whether you're near the portal or not has NOTHING to do with whether or not Zalgo can find you." Slender said, "He could appear at ANY TIME. However, he cannot enter the mansion without my permission. I own the mansion, after all. And as for you, Jeffrey, do NOT leave the mansion with her until all of this is over, got it?!"  
Jeff rolled his eyes and nodded.  
"Good..." Slender said. Slender vanished. Sally ran over to us.  
"Wow, Slendy sure was mad!" Sally said.  
"Yeah..." Jeff said, not looking at Sally.  
"Oh, um, Sally?" I asked.  
"Yeah?" Sally asked.  
"Can you help me with something?" I asked.  
"Sure!" Sally said with a cute smile, "What do you need?"  
"Well, Jeff and I thought I'd be a little safer here if I looked more like a Creepypasta..." I said. Sally grinned.  
"Ooo!" she said, "Okay! I can help with that! Follow me!"  
Sally grabbed my hand and ran upstairs with me.

* * *

~Wybie's POV~

My eyes didn't leave the floor, even when Slender's voice roared through the house. How could Coraline like a guy like that? He was a psychotic, sadistic killer! I hadn't intended to hurt her... But how could she have done this to me? I glanced up and saw Sally and Coraline running upstairs, and Jeff walking into the living room. My blood boiled in rage, and I sharply glared at him.  
"What do you want?" I snapped. Jeff looked over at me.  
"Sorry, did I say anything to you?" Jeff asked. He had a point, he hadn't said anything to me. I didn't reply, I just kept glaring at him.  
"How could you?!" I blurted out angrily, "I loved Coraline, and you f***ing stole her from me!"  
Jeff pulled out a knife.  
"One more word outta you... And you'll regret it..." he said. I clenched my teeth and my fists, keeping myself from yelling at him or attacking him. After all, he had a knife, and I had nothing.  
"Good." Jeff said, putting his knife in his pocket and sitting down on a chair a few feet away, not looking at me.  
"DAMMIT!" EJ yelled in rage as he lost the video game, "Dammit, Ben, STOP CHEATING!"  
Ben fell over laughing. I crossed my arms. All these people were freaks. How could Coraline like them? Even Abigail was starting to like them!

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

"Hm..." Sally said, walking around me in a circle, "What're three of your favorite colors?"  
"Dark purple, black, dark blue." I said. Sally wrote that down in crayon on a clipboard, and I couldn't help but smile.  
"If you could kill any kind of people, what kind would they be?" Sally asked, tapping the red crayon on her chin.  
"Well... Bullies..." I said, remembering Randy, Troy, and Keith, and what they did to Jeff.  
"Anyone else?" Sally asked, writing that down.  
"Hm... None that I can think of." I said, "Well, besides anyone who would hurt people I love, of course."  
Sally grinned and wrote that down.  
"Okay, what's your typical outfit?" Sally asked.  
"Band T-shirts, jeans, hoodies, converse, things like that." I said.  
"So you like hoodies?" Sally asked, "Hehe, a lot of Creepypastas like that, too. Well, some do, anyway."  
I chuckled.  
"True." I said. It did seem like hoodies were a popular clothing item in the mansion, since EJ, Hoodie, Jeff, and even Masky, (sometimes,) wore hoodies.  
"Weapon of choice?" Sally asked. The questions were starting to get on my nerves, but I didn't show it.  
"Hm... Knife, I guess." I said. Sally wrote that down.  
"And one last question..." Sally said, "Do you like cupcakes?"  
I blinked in surprise. What kind of question was that? What did THAT have to do with me looking like a Creepypasta? But Sally was smiling at me so cutely and making those weird puppy-dog eyes that always made me crack that I figured I'd might as well answer.  
"Yeah." I said, with a slight shrug. Sally giggled and wrote that down.  
"Okay!" she said, "I'll see if I can find you an outfit!"  
Sally grabbed my hand and skipped out of the room, practically dragging me behind her.  
"Go into the living room, and I'll call you when I'm ready!" Sally said.  
"Okay." I said, smiling a little and walking into the living room. I saw Ben and Jeff playing video games, and Wybie still sitting in the same spot on the couch. I sat down across from him, not looking at him, but watching the video game. I couldn't look at Wybie. How could I have broken his heart like that?  
_"I don't care..." _I said, _"I love Jeff."  
_Even thinking those words made me feel strange. I had never said that I loved someone like that, or even thought about it. But it was... Nice. But I wouldn't be one of those girlfriends who constantly depends on their boyfriend, oh no. I was still Coraline Jones, the girl who defeated the Other Mother at age 11, the girl who survived a killer at age 12, who fell in love with that killer at age 16, and stood up to a demon.  
"Coraline! Come put on your outfit!" Sally called me from upstairs.  
"Coming!" I said. I ran upstairs, and as I did, I could feel Wybie's stare. I ignored it and ran to Sally's room, where she had my outfit lying on her bed. It was an ordinary dark grey hoodie and black jeans with a few holes in them, and high-top converse shoes.  
"I'm sorry it's nothing special..." Sally said, "I couldn't find anything. But as soon as I find something better, I'll let you know!"  
Sally looked so disappointed about not finding anything better. I smiled and patted her on the head.  
"Oh, it's alright, Sally." I said, "I like it!"  
Sally looked up at me and grinned.  
"Really?" she asked.  
"Yeah!" I said with a grin. Sally giggled and hugged me.  
"Thanks, Cora!" she said. With that she left the room so I could change. After I put on the outfit, I heard tapping on the window.  
"What the...?" I wondered aloud. I walked over to the door and peeked through the blinds, and staring right back at me were a pair of black button eyes.  
"Hello, dear." the Beldam said.


	20. The Accident

Chapter 20: The Accident.

~Coraline's POV~

A scream escaped my lips as I jumped back away from the window.  
"STAY AWAY, YOU WITCH!" I screamed in fear and rage. The Beldam broke through the window.  
"Coraline... I need you..." the Beldam said. To my horror, she was holding a needle and thread.  
"N-no... Stay away!" I yelled. I heard footsteps running up the stairs, but a small demon-like creature moved the dresser in front of the door.  
"CORALINE!" Jeff yelled from the other side of the door. He was trying to break the door down, but he couldn't. The creature grabbed me, and I couldn't move no matter how much I struggled.  
"NO!" I begged, "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"  
Suddenly, I was paralyzed. The Beldam placed one of the buttons on my left eye, and I screamed in pain as she swiftly sewed it on. The pain was unbearable.  
"Now, Coraline, don't worry..." the Beldam said, "You can still see out of it, and it won't hurt for too much longer."  
She placed the other button on my right eye, and just before she sewed it on, I heard the door break down just as I blacked out from the pain.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

Blood was pouring from Coraline's left eye where the Beldam had sewed on the button.  
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" I yelled in rage. I had that same feeling. That feeling I had at Billy's birthday party when I lost all of my sense. I stabbed my knife into the Beldam's head, and she shrieked in pain and fell over. Black liquid poured out from the wound in place of blood.  
"YOU BRAT!" the Beldam yelled just before she vanished. Slender was holding Coraline, who was still unconscious.  
"I'll heal her as well as I can..." Slender said, teleporting away with Coraline. I fell on my knees. How could I have let this happen?  
"This is all my fault..." I said.  
"How is it your fault?" EJ asked.  
"I should've protected her!" I yelled.  
"Hey, you can't predict the future, Jeff, you didn't know this would happen!" EJ said. I wondered how the Beldam got in. I thought that they couldn't get in without Slender's permission. Did he lie? I couldn't have been able to tell, since I was able to tell it before by the look in someone's eyes. But I couldn't do that with Slender, since he didn't have a face at all.  
"I just... Need to be alone..." I said, stabbing my knife into the floor. EJ sighed and nodded, walking out of the room with Ben and Sally following him. The sound of her screaming in pain like she did when I had stabbed her in the shoulder four years ago. But that time it was different. I didn't know what I was doing, and I didn't have those feelings for her at that time. Well, I did, but I just didn't know it. But seeing her in that much pain... The image was killing me. I hid my face in my hands, but I didn't cry. I just sat there, not knowing what to do or say. I just had to trust that Slender would heal her and she'd be alright.

* * *

~Coraline's POV~

I woke up lying in a huge bed, my left eye hurting slightly, but not nearly as badly as it was before.  
"Ugh... What happened?" I choked out.  
"The Beldam sewed a button into your eye." Slender said, sitting across the room, "Unfortunately, I am unable to heal that. I'm afraid... You're stuck with that..."  
"W-what...? You can't heal it?" I asked. Slender sighed.  
"I'm afraid I cannot." he said, "But, on the bright side, you will be able to see out of it."  
I sighed. I didn't want this in my eye. I didn't want this constant reminder of the Beldam.  
"True... I guess..." I said, "Can I see what I look like at least?"  
Slender handed me a mirror and I looked. I gasped. My left eye was no longer there. It was replaced with a black button. Blood was stained on my face from where it had leaked out of the wound. I thought of what Sally had said about the accident.  
_"Oh, God..." _I thought, _"I guess I really do look like a Creepypasta now..."  
_"Well, child, at least you look like a Creepypasta now." Slender said. I smiled a little.  
"Yeah, I guess I do, huh?" I said. Slender nodded.  
"Indeed." he said, "Indeed you do."

* * *

~Wybie's POV~

I practically kicked down the door and ran into the room Coraline was in.  
"Is she alright?!" I shouted, worried.  
"She is fine." Slender said, "But I believe she needs to rest."  
"Please... Just let me see her." I said. Slender sighed.  
"I'm sorry, child, but not right now." Slender said. I glared at him.  
"Okay, listen here you faceless-" I was interrupted.  
"It's okay, Slender, he can come in for a few minutes." Coraline said.  
"Well... Alright." Slender said, sighing and stepping aside so I could get to Coraline. I rushed over and saw her, and I nearly gasped. She had a button sewn into her left eye, and blood staining her cheek where the wound was.  
"O-oh my God..." I said, "C-Coraline, are you-"  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Coraline assured me.  
"Can you see?!" I asked, unable to take my eyes off of the button.  
"Yeah." Coraline said. After a moment of silence, I sighed.  
"Coraline... Why do you love that... That... THING?" I asked. Coraline looked like she was about to glare at me, but she didn't.  
"Well, he may be a killer, but he's still that boy who was my best friend after you left." she said, crossing her arms, "Wybie... I still love you, just... Just as a friend."  
She bit her lower lip, and I did the same. Then I forced a convincing smile.  
"It's okay, I understand." I said. She looked a little surprised and happy at the same time.  
"Y-you do?" she asked.  
"Yeah!" I said, "I'm happy for you, Coraline. I mean, we're still best friends, right?"  
She grinned.  
"Duh, of course we are." she said. I smiled.  
"Okay." I said, "I'll let you rest now, Jonesy. See ya later!"  
"Okay, Wybie." Coraline said. With that I walked out of the room.

* * *

~Abigail's POV~

"How is she?" I asked Wybie as he walked back into the living room.  
"She's fine..." he said, sounding sad and angry about something. I raised a brow.  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"That damn Jeff..." Wybie said, "He f***ing stole her from me..."  
I winced a little. I didn't like it when people swore, but I guessed I would have to get used to it.  
"W-Wybie, calm down!" I said, "This isn't like you... Well, at least from what Coraline would tell me about you, it isn't."  
"Do I look like I care?!" Wybie shouted. It was daytime, so all of the Pastas were out killing. Well, all except Jeff, who was asleep. I wished that the others were there. I didn't know what to do. I gulped.  
"W-Wybie-" I was interrupted.  
"I'm going for a walk..." Wybie said, walking angrily over to the door. I gasped.  
"Wybie, no! Slender said-" I was interrupted again.  
"I DON'T CARE WHAT SLENDER SAID." he said in a stern and angry voice, "I need to get away from this freak show for a while!"  
With that, Wybie walked out the door before I could stop him. I sighed. This wasn't going to end well.

* * *

~Jane's POV~

I heard someone grumbling to themselves in the woods. I smirked. Another mortal? I peeked out from behind the tree I was standing at and saw a boy around Coraline's age standing nearby, grumbling something.  
"Something wrong?" I asked, stepping out from my hiding place. The boy looked over at me, and, to my surprise, he didn't look scared.  
"Yes, something's wrong, but it isn't any of your damn business." the boy snapped. I crossed my arms.  
"Well, well, no need to be rude." I said, "May I at least know what your name is?"  
The boy sighed in annoyance.  
"Wybie." he said.  
"Wybie?" I asked, raising a brow.  
"Yeah... It's short for 'Wyborne'." Wybie said, "Not my idea, of course..."  
I chuckled.  
"Indeed." I said, "Anyway, I'm Jane. And could you please tell me what's wrong?"  
I was trying to act as innocent as possible, and it looked like it was working.  
"Ugh... That damn Jeff the Killer dude stole Coraline from me." Wybie said. Coraline? I knew this would be useful.  
"Who's Coraline?" I pretended I didn't know who she was.  
"She's my best friend." Wybie said, "And I've had a crush on her ever since I met her. For a while I thought she felt the same way... But now she's dating that monster..."  
"You're right... He IS a monster..." I said.  
"You know him?" Wybie asked.  
"Unfortunately, I do." I said, "He's the reason I'm a Creepypasta. He's the reason my family was murdered. He's the reason I became a killer."  
"Wait... You're a killer, too?" Wybie asked.  
"Something like that..." I said, "I only kill those who Jeff will kill. He kills brutally, I kill quickly and painlessly. I'm saving them from him."  
"Huh..." Wybie said.  
"Anyway, I believe I can help you with your problem." I said, "Or at least I know someone who can. His appearance may seem frightening, but he surely can help you."  
Wybie laughed lightly.  
"With all the freaky looking people here, I think I'm used to it." he said. I chuckled.  
"Good point." I said, "Now, come along, Wybie."  
Wybie followed me toward the portal to Zalgo's realm.  
_"Haha... Poor boy doesn't know what he's getting into..." _I thought.


	21. Trouble

Chapter 21: Trouble.

~Coraline's POV~

I sat in the living room in annoyance as Ben kept on gently tapping my button eye every couple of seconds. I wasn't sure if he was doing it to be annoying, or if he was still shocked it had happened. Either way, it was annoying me. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore, and when he tried to tap it again, I grabbed his wrist.  
"Stop." I said, sternly.  
"Heh, sorry." Ben said, moving his hand away from my eye, although I knew he really wasn't sorry. Abigail was sitting across from us, hugging herself. She looked worried about something.  
"Abigail? Everything okay?" I asked.  
"It's Wybie!" she blurted out so loudly that it made everyone jump, "He ran off into the woods! I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen! He left almost an HOUR ago, and he's STILL not back!"  
She brought her feet up on the couch and hugged her knees, hiding her face.  
"He did WHAT?!" Slender blurted out, "He can't do that! Zalgo could find him easily!"  
"So what if he does?" Ben asked, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed way, "I'd actually like to watch him be tortured and killed by Zalgo's minions."  
I glared at Ben, and he instantly shut up.  
"I'm gonna go find him." I said, standing up and starting to walk over to the door. One of Slender's tentacles wrapped around my waist, and he picked me up and moved me away from the door.  
"Hey! Put me down! I have to-" I was interrupted by one of Slender's tentacles covering my mouth, and I glared at him.  
"Coraline, child, you cannot go into those woods!" Slender said, "Not on your own."  
"Well, why not?!" I asked. But no one could understand me, since Slender's tentacle was still covering my mouth.  
"I admire your bravery, Coraline," Slender said, "But I will NOT allow you to go out there."  
I crossed my arms. I was angry, but mostly, I was worried about Wybie. Although he had been being a pain lately, he was still my best friend. And he had accepted that Jeff and I were together, right? Had he been lying?

* * *

~Wybie's POV~

Jane led me to a strange, red portal.  
"This is where Zalgo lives." Jane said. Zalgo? That name sounded familiar. Had the other Creepypastas mentioned it before?  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked. Jane chuckled.  
"Of course it is!" Jane said, "Trust me, Willbie."  
"WYBIE." I corrected.  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, now let's go." Jane said. She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me through the portal. I found myself standing in a huge, dark corridor.  
"Whoa..." I said, "This place is pretty creepy..."  
"Don't judge a book by its cover!" Jane said in the sweet voice she had been using the whole time while she was talking to me. Was she normally like this? Or was she just acting? I didn't care. I just needed help to get Coraline back.  
"He's in there." Jane said, "Now, you wait in that room right there, and I'll be right back."  
She pointed at a room that looked like an open prison cell. At first I was suspicious, but the room had no door, so she had no way to lock me in. I cautiously walked in and sat down on the bench, and waited as Jane walked through the big door.

* * *

~Jane's POV~

"My Lord..." I said, bowing to Zalgo, who was hovering in the middle of the room, "I have an idea that I believe will help us catch little Coraline."  
"Speak..." Zalgo said, smiling evilly.  
"I have brought one of her closest friends to your realm." I explained, "You see, my Lord, he's quite jealous of Coraline and Jeff. He has feelings for Coraline, and he feels that Jeff is getting in the way. I told him that you could help him with this problem."  
Zalgo's evil smile grew.  
"Excellent..." he said, "I believe I know how to handle this. Send him in!"  
"As you wish, my Lord..." I said with a chuckle. I walked back out of the room and over to the room Wybie was in.  
"Lord Zalgo wishes to see you now." I said.  
"Okay..." Wybie said. He still sounded unsure, but I knew he'd do anything to get Coraline back. I smirked as Wybie walked into Zalgo's chamber.

* * *

~Wybie's POV~

I gulped as I saw the huge, red and black demon hovering in the middle of the room.  
"H-hello." I said, "Uh... Jane said you could help me?"  
"Indeed I can." Zalgo said, "Jane has already explained your situation to me, and I do believe I can help you."  
"You can?" I asked, slowly smiling.  
"Of course." Zalgo said, "Now, here's what you need to do..."  
I listened.  
"Lead Jeff and Coraline to me." Zalgo said, "Then-"  
Suddenly, it hit me.  
"Hey!" I shouted, "I know you! You're Zalgo! You're the one who tried to kill Coraline!"  
Zalgo looked surprised and irritated at the same time. I couldn't believe I had forgotten that.  
"That's it, I'm outta here!" I said, running toward the door as fast as I could. But when I tried to open the door, it wouldn't open. Zalgo sighed.  
"You couldn't just cooperate, could you?" Zalgo asked, hovering closer to me, "Well... At least you'll still be helpful."  
"Hell no, I won't!" I shouted, "Let me go!"  
Suddenly, I felt myself getting light-headed, and then everything in me changed. I was angry at both Jeff AND Coraline. What had happened to me?  
"I'll bring them to you..." I said, glaring at the thought of those two, "Kill them both..."  
I hated Coraline. I hated her. I hated Jeff. I hated both of them.


	22. A Visit Home

Chapter 22: A Visit Home.

~Coraline's POV~

I stared into the bathroom mirror. My hair was just the same as it was before, I had a few scratches on the left side of my face where the Beldam's needle had scratched me, and, surprisingly, I was beginning to get used to my button eye.  
_"Maybe it's not so bad..." _I thought, _"I mean, I can't go back to the normal world anyway, right?"  
_Then I thought of Mom. How was she doing? I felt guilt clench my heart. How could I have forgotten about her like that? First she lost Dad, and then she "lost" me.  
"She probably thinks I'm dead..." I thought aloud with a sigh, "I wish I could-"  
I stopped talking when someone knocked on the bathroom door.  
"Yeah?" I asked.  
"Hey, Buttons!" Ben said, "What're you doing in there?"  
I sighed in annoyance.  
"Why do you ask?" I asked, crossing my arms.  
"Just get outta there, already, I've had the game paused for forever!" Ben said. I sighed. This kid could be annoying sometimes. I came out of the bathroom and Ben grabbed my hand, practically dragging me to the living room and in front of the TV. I grabbed the game controller and the two of us started playing CoD. But I couldn't focus on the game, I was too busy thinking about Mom. Apparently I was really distracted, because Ben killed my character. I didn't realize it until he laughed triumphantly.  
"Hah! Killed ya, Buttons!" Ben said. I blinked a couple of times in surprise as I was snapped out of my thoughts.  
"Huh? What?" I asked. Ben raised a brow.  
"You okay?" he asked, "You seem... Bothered by something."  
"Oh, uh, it's nothing!" I assured him, but he didn't seem convinced.  
"Buttons, I'm not an idiot." Ben said, crossing his arms. I smirked.  
"You sure about that?" I asked. Ben smirked.  
"Yup." he said, then his smirk disappeared, "Now what's wrong?"  
I sighed.  
"I don't really wanna talk about it..." I said, "Wanna keep playing?"  
Ben shrugged and smiled.  
"Sure, why not?" Ben said. We un-paused the game and kept playing. I must've still looked sad, because Jeff looked over at me with a worried expression.  
"Coraline? You okay?" Jeff asked. I nodded. Jeff walked over to me and grabbed my chin, making me look at him. He couldn't see my eye before, only my button eye. I had forgotten how Jeff could tell if I was lying, and I mentally kicked myself.  
"No... Something's wrong." Jeff said, letting me go, "Tell me what's wrong."  
"I was just... Thinking about Mom..." I said, biting my lower lip, "She's all alone there..."  
Jeff was silent for a minute, then he smiled at me.  
"Wanna go visit her?" he whispered so no one else heard. Ben was too distracted by the game to notice or hear anything else. I grinned and nodded.  
"Can we?" I asked.  
"Of course." Jeff said, "Just don't tell Slendy. C'mon, let's go while everyone's distracted."  
I nodded and the two of us snuck out the front door.

* * *

~Mel's POV~

I couldn't believe this had happened. First Charlie, now Coraline. Why hadn't I been there for her more? Why hadn't I been a better mother? Those questions ran around through my mind as I sat in the living room, gazing out the window. My little girl... Was gone. And it was my fault. How could I have been so stupid? I let her fight with that killer, and now she was most likely dead because of me.  
"Coraline..." I said, holding back tears. I was looking at the old photo of us by the water fountain. Coraline was 6 when we took that picture. Her hair was brown at the time, and she was smiling and holding her teddy bear. I sniffled and wiped a tear away.  
"I'm so, so sorry..." I said, holding the picture close to my chest. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  
"W-who is it?" I asked, trying to sound like I hadn't been crying.  
"It's me!" a familiar voice said. My eyes widened. It was... Coraline. Quickly I got off of the couch and ran to the door, quickly opening it. There, standing in front of me, was Coraline. But she looked... Different. She was wearing an eye-patch over her left eye.  
"CORALINE!" I said, tightly embracing her. Coraline returned the embrace. She was alright. Coraline was alive. She was alright.  
"Coraline, what happened to you?!" I asked, bringing her inside quickly and shutting the door.  
"Well, Jeff didn't do this." she said, pointing at the eye-patch, "I just, uh..."  
"Coraline, what is it?" I asked, in a calmer voice this time.  
"Well... You know that thing I told you about the Other Mother?" Coraline asked.  
"Oh, you mean that ridiculous dream you had when you were 11 about the lady with the button eyes?" I asked. She nodded, and took of the eye-patch. My mouth dropped open in shock. Instead of her left eye being there, or no eye at all, there was a black button.  
"She was REAL, Mom." Coraline said, "Is THIS ENOUGH PROOF?"  
I was too shocked for words, so I merely nodded. Then my eyes welled up with tears.  
"Oh, Coraline..." I choked out. I hugged her tightly. She must've been in so much pain...  
"What did Jeff do to you?!" I asked.  
"Nothing." a male voice said, "In fact..."  
None other than Jeff entered the room and wrapped his arm around Coraline.  
"I love her." Jeff said. My mouth dropped open again. Was I dreaming?  
"What?!" I exclaimed, in pure shock. Coraline nodded.  
"Yeah." Coraline said, "And I love him, too."  
"Coraline, what in the world has gotten into you?!" I asked, grabbing her shoulders. Then they explained how they made it look like Jeff was kidnapping Coraline, and that they hadn't come back sooner because Jeff would get caught.  
"Coraline..." I said, about to say that we had to report him to the police.  
"Don't you dare say we need to tell the cops." Coraline said, "Besides, they'd never catch him anyway. But... Mom, please, KEEP THIS A SECRET."  
"I... I don't know..." I said. Was it a good idea to keep it a secret?  
"PLEASE MOM." Coraline begged, "He's here to protect me from the Other Mother and Jane and Zalgo."  
None of those names sounded familiar, (well, besides the Other Mother,) so I was completely lost, but I was guessing that they were bad guys.  
"Oh... Alright." I said, mentally telling myself I was a damn idiot.

* * *

~Jeff's POV~

Even though her Mom didn't want us to leave, we left and went back to the Creepypasta realm. We hoped she would keep her word. When we returned to the Creepypasta realm, Slender was pacing around in the woods nearby. We froze.  
"Oh, sh**..." I said, "We're f***ed..."  
"I don't care about that now, Jeffrey!" Slender said, obviously hearing us somehow, "I've got other things to worry about..."  
"Like what?" Coraline asked, crossing her arms.  
"It's Wyborne!" Slender said, sounding annoyed, "That little brat STILL isn't back! And I strongly suspect that he's gone to Zalgo's realm."  
Coraline gasped, but I honestly didn't care, unless he was working with Zalgo. But that wouldn't happen, right?  
"What?!" Coraline said, "B-but..."  
"He may be working with them." Slender said, "They're VERY good at tricking mortals."  
"B-but he'd never do that!" Coraline said, but I had a feeling that he might. After all, there was no telling with that kid.


End file.
